“Activation” exercises are often recommended at the beginnings of workouts. You might get the idea—whether from random TikToks or from a trainer you pay for their expertise—that activations are necessary to get your muscles firing correctly and able to take advantage of the workout to come. That’s not exactly true, though, so let’s dive in to what activations really do.
What does it mean to “activate” your muscles?
The explanation you’ll hear most often is that our muscles—often specifically our glutes, or butt muscles—“forget” how to fire correctly. But that isn’t really a thing that happens, as physical therapist Tyler Detmer told Lifehacker when discussing so-called gluteal amnesia. Our muscles don’t need specific exercises to be able to contract correctly.
But that doesn’t mean activation exercises are useless; it's better to think of these moves as warmups with a specific purpose. As I’ve written before, warmup exercises occupy a spectrum from general (like jogging on a treadmill before squats) to specific (doing lighter squats before doing heavier squats).
The warmups that are sometimes called “activation” exercises fall in the middle of that continuum. They can help you to get ready for your heavier exercises of the day, since they’re fairly specific to the muscles involved. If the person who designed your workout is good at their job, they're a great way to prepare for your working exercises. Unfortunately, not all activations are a good use of your time. So here are some of the cases where activation exercises are useful—and some where they aren’t.
Activation exercises help you “feel” a muscle
If you’re going to do isolation exercises, it helps to know what it feels like to work the muscle properly. Using glutes as our example again, a side-lying leg raise can be done in ways that really use the glutes (when your leg is slightly behind you) or in ways that distribute some of the load to other muscles (like when your leg is slightly in front of you). When you’re doing those leg raises, you can pay attention to whether you’re feeling your glutes—but to do that, you have to know what it feels like to work your glutes.
That’s where activation exercises come in. You do a movement that’s hard to do without using your glutes, and you get to feel the sensations that go along with using that muscle. You might feel a burning sensation as the muscle begins to fatigue, or a tight, full feeling as the muscle fills with fluid (this is what bodybuilders call a “pump”). All of this helps to direct your attention to that muscle and what it feels like. When you do your next exercise, you’ll remember that feeling.
Activation exercises are extra workouts in disguise
The more work you give a muscle, the bigger and stronger it tends to get. We often call that amount of work “volume” and measure that as the number of sets: You’ll build more muscle if you do six sets of squats at each workout than if you only do three.
Activation exercises, if they’re challenging enough, can count toward those sets. Imagine we have two people in the gym: One does three sets each of banded walks and single-leg glute bridges (both often classed as activation exercises) before doing three sets of barbell hip thrusts. The other just does the hip thrusts. That first person is giving their glutes more work than the second, regardless of how the exercises are labeled.
To use activation exercises this way, though, they have to be challenging. If you do your activations heavy enough that you’re at or near the point of failure by the end of each set, they’re adding to your total volume. But if they’re light and easy and you’re just going through the motions, they aren’t really adding anything.
Activation exercises aren’t ever necessary, but they can be helpful
I’ve described a few ways that activation exercises can help in your workouts, but that doesn’t mean that they’re unskippable. You don’t need to feel a muscle working to know that you’re giving it a good workout. And if you’d like to get more volume for a body part, you can do those extra sets before, after, or during your main workout; they don’t have to happen during the “activation” stage at the beginning.
So if you haven’t been doing activations, that’s fine. Just make sure you’re warming up in some kind of appropriate way. (If you’re not sure, read through this guide I wrote to putting together an effective warmup. A warmup is about what gets you ready to work, and it should really be personalized to your body and your workout.)
But if your trainer has given you activation exercises, or if you’ve seen a few you’d like to try online, go ahead and do them. They’ll give you extra work for the target muscle, and you might find that they help you to feel ready by the time you begin the main sets of your workout.
Skiing is expensive. From your lift pass to your equipment hire, transfers, travel andaccommodation, it’s not a particularly accessible sport. Luckily, there are ways to curb your spending if you’re heading to the slopes – one of which is your choice of ski gear.
There are several reasonably priced brands that provide quality for a fraction of the price of luxury labels. Sure, you won’t be buying the most technologically advanced gear – if you’re a seasoned skier tackling extreme weather off piste, a high-street jacket probably won’t cut it – but if you’re a touch more fairweather, like me, these products will do the job just fine. And some brands offer a high spec for a relatively reasonable price, too – the North Face and Tog24 always put performance first, for example.
Andreas Graf lived without screens and no idea of the date or time. The conditions were often brutal – but he found kindness and friendship as he rode
In April 2022, Andreas Graf set off on his bike from his home in Norway. His dream was to cycle to India. A week later, having reached Sweden, it was already becoming more of a nightmare. “It was pouring with rain and I was lying in my tent in my half-wet sleeping bag and I was like, I could be in my very cosy Oslo apartment,” he says. “I had this good life, a career, a partner, and I had left everything behind.”
He was 31. Friends were settling down. Graf had a well-paid job in industrial engineering, but was still renting in a houseshare. “I had started to think about whether to make a financially reasonable and sensible decision, or do something else. I went for option two.”
Various guidelines suggest we all try to walk at least 10,000 steps a day to improve our health and wellbeing. Public Health England encourages a slightly more manageable target of just 10 minutes of brisk walking daily to introduce more moderate-intensity physical activity and reduce your risk of early death by up to 15%.
However, even squeezing in “brisk walks” can be a chore, with busy schedules and increasingly desk-bound jobs forcing more of us to remain sedentary for long periods. That is where walking pads come in, being lighter, smaller and often easier to store than bulky and tricky-to-manoeuvre running treadmills.
Best walking pad overall: JTX MoveLight
Best budget walking pad and best for beginners:
Urevo Strol 2E
I’m one who can appreciate the great diversity of squats in the world. High squats, low squats, front squats, back squats—they’re all beautiful. And yet, people on the internet love to argue about which squat is the best. So here’s a little guide to squat depth, and how to find the squat that’s right for you. The short, easy answer is that you probably want to squat "to parallel," and I'll explain what that means, but there are advantages to squatting lower and higher than parallel, depending on your goals in the gym.
What is squat depth, anyway?
When people talk about how "deep" a squat is, they're referring to how low you get your hips. Some strong and flexible people can squat all the way down until their thighs are touching their calves and their butts are nearly on the ground. Sometimes this is called an "ass-to-grass" squat.
If you can only bend your knees partway before the movement falls apart, you might be told that you're squatting "high," or that you aren't squatting "to depth." If the person who says this is a coach, trainer, or a friend whose advice you value, listen to them, and try to squat deeper. (In a minute I'll give you some tips for how to do that.) On the other hand, if that person is some internet rando or a busybody at your local gym, you do not owe them any specific squat depth and they should mind their own business.
Generally, the higher a squat is, the easier it tends to be, meaning you can move more weight. When you're training you'll want some to find a way to be consistent. For example, if you squat 225 pounds to parallel at the beginning of your training program, and 315 as a super-high half-squat by the end, you cannot legitimately say that you added 90 pounds to your squat, as the parallel squat and the high squat are basically two different lifts. Pick a depth, and stick to it.
Most people should squat to parallel
The best squat depth for most people is squatting "to parallel." This means your thighs are parallel with the floor, or to put it another way, your hips and your knees are about on the same level. (If your hips go lower than your knees, you're "below parallel" and if your hips stay above your knees you are "above parallel.")
This is how most people define a full squat, and it's a definition that comes from convenience: It's easy to see when somebody is squatting to parallel, and this makes it easy for a trainer or a competition judge to tell when you're doing a squat. It also keeps things consistent for your training. If you squat to parallel every time, you know you're doing the same difficulty of squat from week to week.
If you compete in powerlifting, you know that judges will look very carefully at your position in the bottom of the squat to know whether you're doing the lift according to the rulebook. Usually the rule is that your hip joint (or the crease of your hip) needs to go lower than the top of your kneecap. Roughly, this corresponds to your thigh being parallel to the floor, and so people will describe this position as “parallel.” Here’s a video showing what this depth means, and how judges see it:
Do not try to judge this in the mirror while you are squatting! Your eyes aren't at the right level to judge it accurately. Instead, video yourself from the side (with the camera at or below hip level), or ask a friend to watch you squat and tell you if you're hitting the right depth. Another way to make sure you're squatting to a consistent depth is to find a bench or box of an appropriate height, and tap your butt on it with each rep.
Benefits of squatting to parallel:
You get more range of motion, thus engaging your muscles better, than if you did a higher squat.
Most people can achieve a parallel squat with training, so even if your mobility isn't great when you first start training, this is an achievable goal.
You may be able to squat more weight this way than if you go lower.
It's easier to keep your feet in a stable position on the floor in a parallel squat than in a lower squat (see the point above about mobility).
You have a consistent basis of comparison from one set to another. (If your squats get higher the more weight you load on the bar, you aren't actually as strong as you think.)
When you might want to squat lower than parallel
What about squatting lower than parallel? First, if you're using "parallel" as your gauge, technically any squat lower than parallel still meets the requirement. If you enter a powerlifting competition and squat until your butt is nearly touching your shoes, that's still a legal squat. There's no such thing as being red-lighted for going too low.
But usually people only squat that low if they have a good reason to do so. Sometimes that reason is personal preference: You may find that your squats are more comfortable (and you may even be able to lift more weight!) if you let your hamstrings kind of bounce off your calves at the bottom of the squat. As long as it's a controlled, precise movement, it's safe and may be effective for you, depending on your body type.
You'll also often see olympic weightlifters squatting very low. That's because they use squats to help train leg strength for lifts like cleans and snatches, and when you do a clean or a snatch you'll usually end up in a low squat position. Essentially, they train the specific positions that their sport demands.
Low squats are also popular among some gym-goers who want to work on mobility at the same time as strength, or who want to make sure they're training their legs through their full range of motion.
An important caveat is that not everybody feels comfortable squatting low. If you don't have good ankle mobility, you may not be able to get into a low squat position while keeping your body balanced and your feet firmly on the ground. This position may also put more strain on your knees than you would like, leading some people with knee injuries to prefer higher squats. (That said, deep squats are not proven to lead to knee injuries, no matter what that busybody at your gym says.)
Benefits of squatting low:
You train a larger range-of-motion for your leg and hip muscles than with a parallel squat.
You may see more muscle growth for your glutes and adductors, according to some research.
You keep your hips and ankles limber.
You will be better prepared for snatches, cleans, pistol squats, and other movements that require mobility in a deep squat position.
When you might want to squat higher than parallel
Allow me to pause while the purists clutch their pearls, faint, and wait to be revived, before I note that it's actually not a terrible idea to purposely squat above parallel. There is a place for this in many people's training! I define high squats as those where your hip joint doesn't even get close to being on the same level as your knee. These are sometimes called "half squats" (because you're only going halfway to parallel) or sometimes even "quarter squats," if you're just bending your knees a bit.
Half/quarter squats can be a legitimate training tool, especially for people who train for sports that involve running and jumping. You rarely find yourself in a full squat position in, say, basketball, so training full squats may not be a high priority in the weight room. On the other hand, training half squats can let you load up even more weight than you would use for a parallel squat, letting you overload the upper end of that range of motion.
High squats are also often done out of necessity. If you don't yet have the mobility for a parallel squat, or if you're working around an injury that prevents you from bending your knees all the way, you may need to choose between squatting high or not squatting at all. In most of those cases, squatting high is the better option of the two. To make sure you have a consistent target for every set of squats, you can use a tall box, placed just behind you, and squat down just until your butt touches the box. (You can also use a shorter box over time if you are working toward lower squats.)
Benefits of squatting high:
Half squats can build strength for running and jumping sports.
Squatting high is better than not squatting at all.
Squatting high may be a stepping stone to getting back to normal depth when dealing with an injury or other issue that prevents you from doing parallel or lower squats.
How to squat deeper
What if you want to squat deeper, but you can't? Most of the time, the issue is ankle mobility. Even though your legs are doing most of the work, and your back is helping to support the weight of the bar, the weak link in your squat is the flexibility of your ankles. Your ankles need to bend pretty deeply to allow you to squat to parallel or lower.
I put together a guide to improving your ankle mobility for squats, but for a quick fix, you can put plates under your heels or wear specialized weightlifting shoes, like these. In addition, make sure to do some calf and ankle stretches before beginning your squats for the day. A few more stretches at the end of the day (or on non-lifting days) can help to get you more ankle mobility over the long term.
You can also work on ankle mobility over time with stretching and foam rolling. Also, try different stance widths and different types of squats (front squats, goblet squats, high bar, low bar) to see if some are more comfortable for you than others.
How to figure out which squat depth is right for you
Okay, so what if you don’t compete in any squat-centric sport, and you can see upsides to each of the depths we discussed above? Here’s squatting’s dirty secret: It doesn’t matter. The squat police won't come to arrest you if your squats are too high (though some of your gym buddies may heckle you about it, because why aren’t you going deeper?).
You can move more weight if you only do a partial squat, and every gym has people who will tell you about their huge squat PRs but then it turns out they weren’t getting anywhere near parallel. If you are cheating your squats so you can brag about your numbers, swallow your ego and squat to parallel already.
Nor will the squat police come for you if you squat extremely low—but once a week or so, a stranger will tell you you’re going to "ruin your knees" squatting like that. You may ignore them. Low squats aren’t inherently bad for your knees, so if you feel fine, you can keep on keepin’ on. (I discuss this myth at length in my guide to squats.)
That said, if you don’t like squatting low, but you do it because somebody told you you “should,” feel free to ditch that advice and squat to the level you prefer. Squatting ass-to-grass does not make you a better person.
A typical strength- or muscle-building workout happens in sets. You lift the weight a certain number of times (“reps”), then you put it down for a quick rest before going again. But how long should that rest be? The answer will depend on a few factors, including the purpose of the workout. And a lot of us aren't resting enough.
Why rest times matter
Let's talk about the point of rest times. If you can keep moving for an entire workout without ever stopping to rest, you're probably not doing very effective strength training. Cardio can be continuous; most forms of strength training require that you work so hard you must rest.
So we do our strength exercises in "sets" of some number of "reps." You do 10 reps of shoulder press, and then put the weight down for a minute or so. By resting appropriately, you give your muscles time to recover so they can do another set. The longer the rest, the heavier the weight you can usually handle in the next set.
But there are pros and cons to long and short rest times. The longer you rest between sets, the more recovered you'll feel. But the shorter your rests, the more work you'll be able to do in a given gym session. Choosing the most appropriate rest time for each exercise will get you the best gains in the gym. But the optimal rest time will depend on what kind of exercise you're doing and what your goals are. So let's go over some pros and cons of long and short rest times.
When to use long rest times
Longer rests (say, three minutes or more) are best for strength workouts where the goal is to improve both your strength and your skill at lifting heavy weights. After all, you need practice at lifting heavy if you want to be able to lift heavy. After you put a heavy barbell down, you'll need several minutes for your body to be ready to do another big lift. Long rest times are best for:
Compound exercises (those that use many muscles) like squats, deadlifts, snatches, and power cleans.
Heavier weights. If you're working with barbells or doing fewer than 8 reps, you probably want a nice long rest.
Ambitious strength goals. If you have a goal in mind—someday bench 225, for example—the kind of training that will get you there will require heavy weights and long rests.
In the three to five minutes you might rest between sets of (say) barbell squats, the ATP in your muscles regenerates. You get some blood flow to bring oxygen and nutrients into your muscle cells, and flush away metabolic byproducts. Resting for several minutes gives you the best chance of coming back to the next set at full strength.
The longer you rest—within reason—the more fully recovered you’ll be for the next set. If you only allow yourself one minute, you’ll still be fatigued when you pick up the weight again. But if you wait longer, you’ll be able to handle more weight.
The downsides of long rest times
The main disadvantage of long rest times is time management. Your workouts will be longer if you rest five minutes between exercises instead of one or two. You may also find yourself getting distracted between sets. You scroll social media for a bit, and somehow it's been eight minutes since you last touched a weight. Setting a timer can help with this.
Some people get antsy during long rests, and will pass the time by doing pushups or jumping jacks. That kind of defeats the purpose of long rests. Save the supersets for your accessory work afterwards, not the main lift where you're trying to go heavy.
How long is a "long" rest time?
For an exercise where you're using large muscle groups (like a squat or deadlift), five minutes is typical once you're up to your heaviest working weights for the day. Warmup sets don't need as much time.
For exercises where you're working on strength but it's a lighter lift or uses smaller muscles (like overhead press), two to three minutes is usually plenty.
When to use short rest times
When it comes to muscle growth, also called hypertrophy, shorter rests can make more sense. To be clear, strength and muscle growth are related, but not the same thing. If you aren't interested in lifting the heaviest weight possible, just in making your muscles bigger or your body more "toned," you would want to pay attention to the best rest times for hypertrophy. These will be shorter than for pure strength. Use short rests for:
Isolation exercises (those that only target one muscle group at a time).
Lighter weights. "Accessory" exercises with small weights don't need as much rest time.
Training for muscle size when strength is less important. If you don't care how much weight you're lifting, and you just want to move a weight and be done with your workout, short rests can help keep the workout moving while still giving your muscles something to do.
Traditionally, trainers say that 90 seconds or less is a good rule of thumb. (The National Academy of Sports Medicine recommends 0 to 60 seconds; the personal training textbooks from the National Strength and Conditioning Association and the American Council on Exercise both recommend 30 to 90 seconds.)
But research has shown that short rest periods may not actually be better for muscle growth than longer ones. A 2016 study found that three-minute rest periods actually yielded more muscle growth than one-minute rests. The authors think this is because the men in their three-minute group (yep, the study was only done on men) were able to use heavier weights than the men in the one-minute group. Since the number of sets was the same in both groups, this means the three-minute group lifted more weight.
A more recent meta-analysis also comes down on the side of longer rests. According to the studies they included in the analysis, the authors found that 30 to 60 seconds is likely too short. Resting one to two minutes between sets is best for muscle growth, they say. But according to this, more than two minutes doesn't really help, and may slow down your workout enough that you get fewer sets in.
The downsides of short rest times
The shorter your rests, the lighter weights you'll work with. This is fine if you're trying to make do with light dumbbells, but it means you're not getting practice with heavier weights. Most of us want to be jacked and strong, so short rest times mean you're biasing yourself to the muscle size side of the equation.
Very short rest times (less than a minute) may also interfere with your ability to make the biggest gains, as the studies above noted. You may be able to make up for this by doing more sets of the exercise. If you enjoy the go-go-go feeling of short rests, that may be totally fine with you. Add an extra set or two and you know you're using your time well. For the rest of us, though, slowing down and taking a full minute between sets will be better than rushing it.
How long is a "short" rest time?
One to two minutes is likely the sweet spot, according to recent studies. That's on the higher end of the recommended 30 to 90 seconds. It's fine to do some of your rests shorter and some longer, but if you'd like me to tell you what to punch in on your timer, go with 90 seconds.
How to get the benefits of both long and short rest times
Ultimately, you may be best off using a mix of long and short rest times, which is how a lot of strength training programs are designed. Use longer rest times for a few big compound lifts at the beginning of the workout (like squats or bench press) and shorter rest times for circuits, accessories, or isolation exercises afterward (like curls or glute bridges).
Supersets are a great way to split the difference. If you work different muscle groups in two different exercises, you can do one exercise while the other muscles rest. This isn't your best option if you truly want all your energy and focus to go toward one lift (like if you're working up to a PR on your bench press) but it's a great way to do hypertrophy work. For example, try this:
Do a set of pull-ups
Rest 30 seconds
Do a set of pushups
Rest 30 seconds
In this example, if it takes you 30 seconds to do the set of pushups, you've rested 90 total seconds in between your first set of pullups and your second set of pullups.
How long to rest between sets of specific exercises
Okay, but what if you want to get stronger and grow muscle? What if you want to stop overthinking the specifics and do whatever rest period makes you look like a normal person at the gym who knows what they’re doing? Here’s a cheat sheet:
For pushups and pull-ups: If you do a small to medium number of reps (less than 12), treat them as a strength exercise and wait three to five minutes between sets. If you’re one of those people banging out 20 or 50 at a time, you probably want to take rests of about a minute so that fatigue can make your next set a bit shorter and you can finish your workout in this lifetime.
For barbell squats and deadlifts: These are compound lifts that use many muscles in your body. They’re pretty much always done (relatively) heavy, and it’s useful to build strength in these moves. Treat them as a strength exercise and wait three to five minutes.
For bench press, overhead press, chest press, and shoulder press: These involve smaller muscles and less weight than squats and deadlifts, but they still qualify as compound, strength-focused exercises. Two to three minutes will be enough, most of the time, but take up to five on heavy sets if you need to.
For rows and lat pulldowns: Same as the presses, for the same reasons. Two to three minutes may be enough, but up to five would still be reasonable.
For isolation exercises: if you’re trying to feel the burn or the pump, short rests will really help you here. Take 30 seconds between sets.
These are just guidelines, so feel free to experiment. If you want to work on your cardiovascular conditioning, take a little less rest between sets. If you’ve already done a big set of bench presses today, do the rest of your arm and chest accessories with shorter rest periods.
All your questions about rest times, answered
Let's do a lightning round, since I know rest times are a huge subject of discussion among people who are getting the hang of the gym routine. But first, a plea for you to not overthink this: if you simply rest until you feel ready to go again, you'll probably do ok.
Is three minutes' rest between sets too much?
No. If you're trying to move a heavy weight, you probably want to rest a minimum of three minutes. If you're training for muscle size (and don't care as much about strength), you could shorten your rests a bit. Still, it's not bad to rest too long, just slightly inefficient.
Can you rest an hour between sets?
At that point I wouldn't call it a rest time, just a different workout. When you come back to the gym after that hour, you'll need to warm up all over again. I would say if it's been more than 10 or 15 minutes between sets, or if you feel like you're physically cooling down, it's worth doing some kind of exercise just to keep your body ready. This could be pushups while you're waiting for a bench to free up, for example.
How long should I rest if I'm new to the gym?
As a noob, you're probably not lifting very heavy (yet). That means you don't have a lot to rest from. Say you're doing squats: your body is still learning how to squat at all. You aren't taking 300 pounds for a ride and needing to rest several minutes to recover.
For that reason, newer people may not need to rest as much. Two minutes between squat sets? Sure, that's fine if you feel ready. The pitfall here is that if you get used to taking short rests, you could end up working with weights that are too light for you. After your first few weeks at the gym, make sure to do some of your heavier lifts with longer rest times (at least three minutes) and see if you feel fresher.
What happens if I don't rest between sets?
If you can do multiple sets of an exercise without resting in between, you're not using an appropriate weight. There's supposed to be a difference between three sets of 10, and one set of 30. If your workout says to do 3x10, you're supposed to feel tired enough after that 10th rep that you need to rest at least a minute or two before going again.
And yes, it can be awkward to be standing around in the squat rack, doing nothing or even scrolling on your phone while others are waiting. But remember: Everybody rests between sets! Or at least, they should.
When I asked real people why they post their workouts online, I received well over a hundred replies, many of them filled with venting about body image issues and unattainable beauty standards. That's didn't surprise me. What did surprise me was that the majority of these responses came from men.
Carefully measured chicken and rice, obsessive tracking of macros, the guilt when a workout is missed: On social media, these behaviors are framed in the language of performance and strength. The same rituals that would be clear indications of disordered behavior for women are redefined as “discipline” and “optimization” for men. How many men suffer in silence because eating disorders are coded as a women's issue? How many cases go unrecognized when they're framed as "clean eating" or "serious training"? When eating disorders and body dysmorphia get rebranded as "fitness goals," a lot of men are left struggling in plain sight.
Men can have eating disorders, too
Boys and men now make up about a third of those diagnosed with eating disorders, and that figure likely understates the crisis. In particular, muscle dysmorphia—sometimes called "bigorexia"—is characterized by excessive and compulsive exercise, a persistent belief that one is insufficiently muscular, and an obsession with muscle mass, size, and leanness.
Unfortunately, much of fitness culture allows men to engage in disordered behaviors by wrapping them in performance language. "Bulking" and "shredding" cycles can mask seriously problematic eating patterns. Without giving certain men in my life an armchair diagnosis, I can confidently say I’ve seen the mental fallout when someone’s extreme caloric restriction becomes "cutting" or compulsive exercise becomes "staying on track."
Unsurprisingly, social media amplifies these harmful messages. Mason Boudrye, who describes himself as "someone known to post gratuitous thirst traps," shared with me the mental fallout of always trying to look a certain way. “Even if people don't admit that the obsessive tracking and strict adherence to diet qualifies as disordered eating, I know it’s true for me,” he says. The social media of it all makes these feelings even more public and persistent.
We all scroll through feeds of chemically enhanced physiques presented as natural and achievable. This naturally breeds more self-scrutiny, more comparison, more perceived inadequacy. Matthew Singer, a yoga teacher, says most “fitspo” (fitness inspiration) “is as helpful for fitness as previous winning lottery numbers are for winning millions. Fitspo cannot take into account genetics, job and family circumstances, health history, or any of the other countless factors that influence health outcomes." Our bodies are treated like projects always in need of correction, devoid of much-needed context.
What’s most troubling to me is the way men don’t get to call out disordered behaviors by name. There is both a misconception around who eating disorders affect, and a deep reluctance among affected men to seek help for a problem they've been socialized to handle alone. Society has constructed a masculine ideal that equates vulnerability with weakness, making it nearly impossible for some men to admit they're struggling with their relationship to food and their bodies.
Unattainable beauty standards stay unattainable
Botox injections in men may get called “Brotox," but a cheeky nickname shouldn't shroud the fact that unattainable beauty standards are leading men to take more extreme measures. Dr. Claudia Kim of New Look New Life Cosmetic Surgery says she's seen a rise in men turning to beauty treatments: jawline contouring, under-eye correction, hair restoration, skin rejuvenation. “These approaches offer noticeable yet discreet results with little downtime,” says Kim, fitting neatly into lives that were never supposed to include these concerns.
What's telling, Kim adds, is that her male patients are usually entering the aesthetic realm for the first time. In this sense, men are catching up to beauty regimens women have been undertaking for generations, and slowly learning what women have long understood: Namely, that appearance affects professional success, social capital, and romantic prospects—and the goalposts are always moving. At the same time, the masculine ideal demands stoic self-sufficiency, even as it requires costly and constant aesthetic labor.
What does all this mean for the average person with an average budget? The treatments Kim describes—jawline contouring, hair restoration, aesthetic procedures—aren't cheap. Nor are supplements, meal prep services, personal trainers, specialized equipment, and so on. Beauty standards increasingly require you to spend more money, meaning your appearance is yet another health arena where class determines outcomes. And if they can’t afford to look the way they feel pressured to look, men are uniquely left behind to suffer in silence.
As a woman, I’ve spent most of my life jealous of how men were allowed to age, or gain weight, or simply be in their bodies without constant intervention. Now I have a more sympathetic gaze, especially after hearing so many men admit they were never given the language to articulate aesthetic concerns without shame.
The bottom line
There’s a big difference between healthy self-care and the sense that your body is never good enough. Meticulously tracking every calorie, every rep, every perceived flaw—why should one woman’s obvious eating disorder be another man’s enviable achievement?
Women have been battling body image issues and unattainable beauty standards since birth, but a lot of men were never taught how to fight this particular war. To me, the takeaway is that we all need to be on the same side. To fight this war, we need a more honest conversation about what we're doing to men's relationships with their bodies. Until we acknowledge that, all this talk of "cutting" and "discipline" will allow dangerous behaviors to keep hiding in plain sight.
In the world of exercise, variety abounds. You can lift light weights, or heavy weights, or no weights at all. If you don’t lift at all right now, it doesn’t matter much where you start. But that doesn’t mean that all of these options are equivalent. Light weights can build muscle, but they do not have the same benefit as heavier weights.
It takes different workouts to get the most benefit out of light weights versus heavy weights. And heavy weights can do some things that light weights can't. I'm going to unpack all of that below, but right now the most important thing I want you to understand is that it's not correct when people say light weights are "as good as" heavy weights or that it "doesn't matter" which you use.
Friends, it does matter. You might decide that lighter weights are best for you, or you might want the benefits that heavy weights provide. But you deserve to know the difference. Because there is definitely a difference. Even the studies that show benefits of lighter weights for muscle gain still find that heavy weights have advantages.
For example, this meta-analysis gathering the results of 178 different studies found that "Higher-load (>80% of single repetition maximum) prescriptions maximised strength gains, and all prescriptions comparably promoted muscle hypertrophy [growth]." In short: light weights can help you gain muscle (with caveats, which we’ll discuss) but they aren’t a good way to build your strength, in the sense of your real-world ability to lift heavy things.
When you should exercise with light weights
You can do a lot with light weights, and I’m not knocking them. They’re especially great for beginners, since they’re easy to handle and not too intimidating. If you’ve never lifted a weight before, it makes sense to grab the 5-pound or 10-pound dumbbells rather than heading straight for the squat rack. I even have a list of exercises that work best with light weights, like wrist curls and weighted deadbugs.
If you’d like to continue with light weights past the beginner stage, that can work too—depending on your goals. It is true that you don’t need to lift heavy weights to build muscle. Light weights, which I’ll define here as anything you need to lift for 12+ reps before you start to feel any burn or fatigue, can signal your body to build more muscle tissue as long as you keep lifting until you literally cannot lift them any more. That’s called lifting “to failure.”
The problem is, lifting light weights to the point of failure is boring as hell. It’s also easy to stop short of failure, because you’re tired and bored and you want to quit. If you’re capable of lifting 20 reps with a certain weight, but you stop around 12, you’re going to miss out on most of those muscle-building benefits.
A muscle’s size and its strength are two different but overlapping concepts. A bigger muscle does tend to be a stronger one, and vice versa. But if you want to be able to lift something heavy in real life—like a 50 pound bag of cement at Home Depot—a person who trains with 50-pound weights is going to have an easier time of it than a person who never has never picked up a dumbbell bigger than 10 pounds.
Remember how light weights need to be lifted to failure to stimulate muscle growth? That’s because our bodies can choose to only “recruit” a few muscle fibers at a time to do a job. If you pick up a 2-pound dumbbell, your nervous system says “ehh, we only need a few motor units to do this job” and doesn’t bother activating the rest. But as you reach your 18th, 19th, 20th rep, it has to recruit more and more of those fibers as the ones you used at first begin to tire out. With heavy weights, though, you end up recruiting large numbers of muscle fibers right from the start.
Heavier weights tell your body to grow the muscle and they teach your muscle fibers and your brain how to work together. The first time you try a new exercise, it will seem hard. After a few weeks, or maybe even a few days, you’ll be able to move a lot more weight more smoothly—even if you haven’t grown any extra muscle tissue by that time.
You need to work with heavy weights if you want to learn to move heavy weights. Many people also prefer heavy weights because each set of an exercise is over in just a few reps—maybe eight or 10, or in some cases as little as a single rep. What counts as "heavy" depends on the person—I've written about how to know what counts as a heavy weight for you.
You also don’t need to go all the way to failure when you’re training with heavy weights, which is something that lifters often appreciate. If I have 200 pounds on the barbell for squats, I might technically be able to squeeze out seven reps. But my workout for the day might only call for four or five. I find that a lot more enjoyable than doing 20+ goblet squats with a dumbbell. The dumbbell is lighter, but using a heavy barbell means I get to stop before I’m exhausted.
How to combine the benefits of heavy and light weights
As with many things in life, the “why not both?” approach is best for most people. Strength athletes (including powerlifters, Olympic weightlifters, and Crossfitters, to name a few) will typically center their routines around a few heavy lifts, and then get in some extra work with lighter or medium-ish “accessory” lifts. That’s still a solid approach for the average person who just wants to lift for fun or for health.
It’s also important to remember the “light” weights need to get heavier over time, as you get stronger. Even Jane Fonda, remembered for eight-count exercises with small dumbbells, told viewers in the introduction to her famous vifdeo that they’ll want to switch out for heavier weights as they gain experience. This is, in a nutshell, the concept of progressive overload.
Meanwhile, “heavy” just means any weight that doesn’t take dozens of reps to get results. If you can only do about 10 pushups, then pushups count as a “heavy” exercise for you. Going for something heavy on a compound exercise (one that involves multiple body parts) gives your body a loud signal to increase your strength, while leaving you plenty of time for lighter exercises if those are how you prefer to spend your gym time.
The Apple Watch is a powerful tool for following and tracking exercise. We’ve already shown you 10 hacks for all Apple Watch users, but I’m here with a follow-up on the fitness features, specifically. With these lesser-known settings, apps, and features, you can get more out of your workouts and your health data.
Give your Apple Watch rings a "rest day"
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
The Apple Watch’s Fitness app famously includes three rings (Move, Exercise, Stand) that you can close with activity throughout the day. Not only should you change your Move and Exercise goals to numbers that work for you (raising or lowering them as appropriate), you can also schedule in different goals for each day.
Originally, your Move, Exercise, and Stand goals were the same every day, but these days you can change your ring-closing goals, including adding rest days. Go to the Fitness app and tap the Activity Rings card, and then tap the “+/-” icon next to each goal. You can create a weekly schedule so that you have lower targets on certain days. You can also change a goal temporarily just for today—for example, reducing your Stand hour goal on a day you’re taking a road trip.
Wear your Apple Watch on your arm (or ankle)
The Apple Watch is meant to be worn on the wrist, but that doesn’t mean you have to wear it there. If your workout has you snatching kettlebells or bench pressing in wrist wraps, consider wearing the Watch on your upper arm. Or if you use a standing desk, your steps may not register unless you put the Watch on your ankle. Both of these locations will likely require a bigger wristband than what came with the Watch. Fortunately, you can buy an extra-long band, like this one.
Change the Apple Watch's app view for easier tapping during a workout
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
This is a tiny hack, but one that makes it so much easier to operate your watch mid-workout: Press the crown, and you’ll see all your installed apps. By default, they appear as little icons clustered together. You can rearrange them if you like, but no matter the arrangement, they’re tough to accurately tap while you’re running down the street. Make life easier on yourself by scrolling to the bottom of this screen, and tap List View. This puts your apps in an alphabetical list, with the name next to each icon. It’s now far easier to tap anything you might need during your workout.
Use Bevel to gather your Apple watch data into a convenient dashboard
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
The Apple Watch collects a lot of data, but Apple doesn’t give you a convenient way to view it all in one place. The Fitness app has workout data, and the Health app stores everything else—but the Health app isn’t as user-friendly as you might wish. Third-party apps have stepped in to fill the gap. Bevel, for example, provides recovery scores and collects data in much the same way you’d see from a Whoop or Oura ring. There are other apps that do the same thing, like Athlytic, but I’m recommending Bevel because it has a free tier (and most of its functionality is on that tier). If you like the experience, consider shopping around to see if you prefer other apps.
Create custom intervals on your Apple Watch
The Workout app on Apple Watch has evolved quite a bit from its original format as a simple tracker with a start and stop button. The current version of the Fitness app has a little timer icon in the corner of each workout type, under the Workouts tab. Tap that, and you can view and edit custom workouts. Program yourself an interval workout, or a workout of a specific length. You can do this most easily from your phone—Apple has instructions here.
Use your Apple Watch to race yourself
If you run or bike the same route often, try the Race Route feature. Routes are automatically generated after you do the same run twice. On the Watch itself, go to the Workout app and choose a Run or Cycle workout, then tap the timer icon to bring up options including race routes. You can choose to race your personal best time on that route, or just your last workout on that route. During the activity, you’ll see whether you’re keeping pace with that previous workout.
Do a workout even without the Apple Watch
It may look empty, but it got tracked.Credit: Beth Skwarecki
One of the best upgrades to iOS 26 is that the Fitness app can now track workouts even without the Apple Watch. If you left your watch at home but still want to get a run in, you can track it directly from your phone. Just go to the Fitness app, then Workout, and then tap whichever type of workout you’d like to do. If you choose an outdoor workout like a run, your phone will track your distance and pace with the phone’s GPS. If you choose an indoor workout, the app can still log the workout with a timer, but it won’t be able to collect any data. You’ll get a readout with the amount of time you worked out, and an estimate of your calorie burn, and you can rate your effort so the workout counts toward your training load. If you have a device that can measure your heart rate—like a chest strap or headphones like the Powerbeats Pro 2—you can pair that device directly to your iPhone, without involving the watch, and track your workout through the Fitness app with heart rate data intact.
Connect your Apple Watch to a treadmill
The Apple Watch is pretty good at judging distance and speed outdoors when you run, and your iPhone can do a good job of that, too. But once you’re indoors on a treadmill, only the treadmill knows how far you’re running. The Apple Watch’s distance estimations aren’t always very good. That is, unless you’re using a treadmill that can beam data directly to your watch. The treadmills in a lot of commercial gyms have this feature through a system called GymKit. In your Settings on the watch, go to Workout and turn on Detect Gym Equipment. When you use a compatible gym machine, there will be a spot on the console to tap your watch. You’ll hear a beep, and then the data on your watch will be synced to the data on the machine.
Install WorkOutDoors on your Apple Watch for more run data and mapping
Credit: Beth Skwarecki
We’ve seen that the stock Workout app has plenty of great features for running and other workouts, but many runners and hikers prefer a different option. The Apple Watch app WorkOutDoors gives Garmin-level mapping and data analytics during your run. It takes a bit of time to learn your way around all the features, but this is an incredibly powerful tool for just a small investment ($8.99 as a one-time charge).
Top up the Apple Watch's battery before sleep
If you use the Apple Watch to track your sleep, you don’t have the option of charging it while you sleep. But don’t worry if it’s close to bedtime and you’re low on battery—Apple Watches, especially the most recent models, are designed to charge quickly for exactly this reason. The Apple Watch Series 11 only needs five minutes of charge time for eight hours of sleep tracking.
Maybe this is just me being Extremely Online, but whenever I see a video of someone squatting in running shoes, a comment section goes off in my head. “Ditch the shoes!” “You’ll hurt yourself!” “You don’t want cushions under your feet when there’s a heavy bar on your back!”
There’s some truth behind those knee-jerk reactions; when squatting (or deadlifting), I do not personally wear running shoes nor would I recommend them. But the importance of your choice of shoes is hugely overblown. You aren’t going to injure yourself or kill your gains by squatting in sneakers.
Why people say you shouldn’t squat in sneakers
Why is this questionable advice so pervasive? I blame internet form-check culture. People who have just learned to squat themselves aren’t in a position to diagnose mobility issues, or on the flip side to reassure new lifters that they’re basically doing fine and just need more practice. But they can see that you are wearing New Balances, so that’s what they pick on first.
The idea is that running shoes and other soft sneakers put a squishy layer of foam under your feet. When you’re running, that’s great; it absorbs impact and helps to return some energy to your foot as you push off. But when you’re squatting or deadlifting, you’ll benefit more from a solid footing.
I can agree with the sneaker-haters that your best options for squatting are either firm shoes (with no squish at all) or going without shoes. I’d rank your options like this:
Weightlifting shoes, like Nike Romaleos or Reebok Legacy Lifters, which have an elevated heel and a very firm sole. These are best if you need or prefer an elevated heel to keep good body positioning while you squat. They’re pricey though, and if you have good ankle mobility, you may not benefit much from the heel. These are great for squatting but not so much for deadlifts.
Shoes with a firm, flat sole, like Converse Chuck Taylors or Vans Old Skools. These are good all-around gym shoes, and you can deadlift in them, too.
No shoes at all. Most gyms frown on true barefoot training but it’s usually fine to slip off your shoes and lift in socks.
When the sneaker-haters start making scary claims, saying you’ll hurt yourself or that you can’t possibly lift heavy in squishy shoes, they really don’t have a firm sole to stand on.
There aren’t any studies that attribute a higher injury rate to sneaker-wearers than to lifters who wear other footwear. Any claims that you’ll get hurt in sneakers are pretty much guaranteed to be made up. People love to scare each other about “dangerous” exercises and practices in the gym, evidence be damned.
I’ll admit that when I squat in sneakers, I don’t feel as stable. But I have squatted in sneakers, and the squats go fine. Look around your local gym; you’ll see plenty of people in suboptimal footwear.
Once I participated in a competition where people executed a variety of strange and heavy lifts. Toward the end, a few folks were attempting one-legged lifts, and commented that it was hard to do these in sneakers. I looked around and realized that most of the competitors had been wearing sneakers all day. And probably trained in them too. These were folks who had been putting up serious poundages! Until they took on a particularly balance-focused task, their choice of footwear hadn’t stood in their way at all.
Lifting in sneakers is the same kind of “not ideal, but you’ll be fine” situation as squatting without a belt, or running on a sunny day without sunglasses. So, should you squat in sneakers? Eh, they’re not your best option. But if they’re what you have for now, you’ll be fine.
I’ve always said there’s no good reason to buy an older model Whoop band, since the company will give you the latest model for free when you subscribe. But on Reddit, some people who already own Whoop 5.0 bands are buying up old 4.0 bands to get a bargain on the subscription price.
There have been a few posts on this, but perhaps the master of this hack is Redditor u/thelifeofcb, who found Whoop 4.0 bands, new in box, at a T. J. Maxx store for $39 each, and bought several. This allowed them to extend their existing subscription—they wear a Whoop 5.0—for several years at essentially a $200/year discount.
How the discount Whoop hack works
When new Whoop bands are sold through retailers, they come packaged with a one-year subscription. The idea is that you’ll create an account on the app, pair the band you bought through the app, and get credit for a 12-month subscription—since that was the main thing you paid for when you bought the band at full price.
Back in the Whoop 4.0 days, there was only one tier of membership. When tiers were introduced, those subscriptions rolled over to a Peak subscription, the one that currently goes for $239/year. That means a 4.0 device—however much you pay for it—can give you a year-long Peak subscription.
Redditors have found that pairing one of these new Whoop 4.0 devices added a year’s subscription to their accounts, whether they were a new customer or not. That means you can buy a few discount bands, pair them all, and enjoy several years’ worth of discounted membership. That $39 band is thus a $200 discount on each year’s membership. Some say that they received an offer to upgrade to a Whoop 5.0 band if they added two years' worth of membership (paired two bands).
That $39 price is an unusually good one, but you can still get a significant discount anywhere new Whoop 4.0 devices are sold. For example, Amazon has 4.0 devices right now for $124, which is still about half the price of a Peak subscription. You can find them cheaper on eBay, but I’d be wary of buying a box that may have been opened. I’ll explain that below.
Scoring a cheap Whoop won't always work, though
While Redditors say this works—and it does fit with my understanding of how subscriptions are paid for and claimed in the app—there are a few pitfalls to beware of.
The first is that this applies to new-in-box devices that (1) are sold with a subscription, and (2) have never been paired. The hack would not work with a hand-me-down device that has already been used, nor with a new one that has already been paired and its subscription claimed. For example, you can’t pass the same band to a friend and expect it to give both of you a subscription.
This means you have to be sure the band you buy has not been opened. If a store accepts returns of opened items, they may not realize that the valuable item here—the digital subscription—has already been claimed. If they put it back on the shelf, and you buy it, you’re out the purchase price and you still don’t have a subscription.
The other issue is just the e-waste that this causes. You’re buying a device just to throw it in the trash. But I’d argue that’s Whoop’s fault, not yours—those devices are obsolete and headed for the landfill (or responsible electronics recycling program, if you can find one) regardless of what you do.
When Owala water bottles started appearing in every influencer's "daily essentials" video and cluttering my Instagram feed, I rolled my eyes. I assumed this was another overhyped product that people would forget about in three months, just the latest in a long line of Stanley Cup successors.
One of my biggest personality quirks (or "flaws," according to some) is that I'm a major spiller. The Stanley Cup's open straw is a non-starter for me. In fact, no water bottle technology has been stronger than my ability to spill its contents. After watching my latest bottle create yet another puddle in my bag, I caved and bought an Owala. And now, I have to admit this water bottle is officially an upgrade in my life.
Why the Owala water bottle is the best
I'm a huge fan of the FreeSip lid—yes, that's what they call it, and yes, it lives up to the name—is genuinely brilliant in its simplicity. There's a built-in straw for when you want to sip without tilting (perfect for walking, driving, or my personal use case: lying horizontally on the couch). Flip it open a bit more, and there's a wide-mouth spout for when you want to chug. One lid, two drinking options, and crucially, a push-button lock that has saved my laptop, my physical planner, and my dignity. Seriously, I cannot emphasize this enough: I am a world-class spiller. The Owala's lock mechanism is the only thing standing between me and constant catastrophe.
At 24 ounces, it's the perfect size—big enough that I'm not refilling it every hour, small enough that it actually fits in my bag's side pocket and doesn't make me look like I'm headed out for a weekend camping trip when I'm just going to run errands. It's become my constant companion without feeling like I'm lugging around gym equipment.
Sometimes the influencers are onto something. And now I'm part of the problem, becoming the exact person who won't shut up about their water bottle. But when you find something that solves multiple persistent problems at once, when a product actually delivers on its promises instead of just looking good in photos, it's hard not to evangelize a little. The Owala works. I'm staying hydrated, my bag is staying dry, and I'm sipping with ease wherever I go.
I love a five-minute workout video. What I don’t love is when the clickbait YouTube title promises this video will “transform my body.” Can’t I work out for five minutes just for the sake of moving my body? Why is fitness culture always so “all-or-nothing?”
Before I started running marathons, I was someone who simply worked a few squats into my day here and there. These brief bursts of movement—call it "exercise snacking" or "micro-movement"—are a great way to get into more consistent physical activity. Even if you don’t have bigger fitness goals, performing exercise “snacks” are valuable in their own right. Because when it comes to physical activity, something is always better than nothing.
What is exercise snacking?
When I say “exercise snacking,” I’m referring to short bouts of physical activity scattered throughout your day, typically lasting anywhere from 30 seconds to 10 minutes. Unlike traditional workouts that require dedicated time, special equipment, or a trip to the gym, exercise snacks fit seamlessly into your existing routine. They might include a set of squats while your coffee brews, wall push-ups during a work break, or calf raises while standing in line.
The concept challenges the conventional wisdom that exercise must be sustained and structured to really “count.” Instead, it embraces the reality of modern life: Most people struggle to find 30 consecutive minutes for fitness, but nearly everyone has scattered pockets of time they're already spending on routine tasks.
The science behind short bursts of activity
Researchincreasinglysupports the effectiveness of these brief movement sessions. Studies have demonstrated that exercise snacks improve glucose control, helping regulate blood sugar levels throughout the day. They've also been shown to reduce blood pressure, enhance strength when performed consistently, and boost cognitive function across adult populations.
"Short bouts of movement throughout the day can improve energy, circulation, and blood sugar regulation, and they're especially powerful when paired with habit stacking to build consistency, " says Nora Minno, Registered Dietitian at Wip.
Perhaps most importantly, these micro-workouts are highly accessible. Research shows they're well-tolerated across different fitness levels and age groups, making them an inclusive approach to fitness. Participants in various studies consistently report improved mood and energy levels, even from sessions lasting just a few minutes.
Can micro-workouts deliver real results?
The honest answer depends on what you mean by “results.” Exercise snacking is a proven strategy for reducing sedentary behavior and improving overall health markers. If your goal is to feel better, move more, regulate blood sugar, or simply establish a foundation of physical activity, micro-workouts can absolutely deliver tangible results.
However, if you’re imagining a dramatic weight loss transformation, it’s important to adjust your expectations. "While micro-workouts alone won't replace longer training sessions for specific performance goals,” Minno says, “they can deliver real health benefits and can create momentum toward a more active lifestyle."
If you're training for a marathon, building significant muscle mass, or pursuing sport-specific performance, you'll still need dedicated, longer training sessions. But for general health—namely breaking the cycle of sedentary living—exercise snacks are a great way to approach your fitness journey.
How to use habit stacking with exercise snacking
"One of the biggest barriers I see is the belief that a workout requires a lot of time or preparation to be worthwhile,” Minno says. “As a result, people miss the short windows they already have because they don't feel ready to start." It’s a major mental barrier, the feeling like you wouldn’t even know how to start incorporating exercise snacks into your daily routine. One of the most effective strategies for making exercise snacking work is habit stacking, which boils down to attaching new behaviors to existing routines.
"Habit stacking is all about linking a new action with something you already do, making it easier to stay on track," says Lannay Dale-Tooze, a personal trainer at Gymshark. "We all have daily habits, like brushing our teeth, putting on shoes before heading out, or watching TV after dinner. If you attach a new habit to something you're already doing, it's easier to make it stick." I know that for me, habit stacking is like a sneaky workaround to always have endless willpower or motivation. Instead, you only need to create a little space for movement in your existing routines.
Practical exercise snacks you can start today
Whatever your fitness levels, there are plenty of ways movement can be woven into your life:
Stretch while watching TV. A mini-stretching routine is a great way to improve and protect your mobility. A few years ago my colleague Beth Skwarecki took us on her journey to get into stretching, and I highly recommend the routine she settled on here.
Posture work while listening to your favorite podcast. Roll your shoulders up and back five times, tuck your chin in and down, or rest your forearm on the doorframe at a 90-degree angle to stretch tight chest muscles against a doorframe.
Squat while your food heats up. Next time you boil the kettle or microwave leftovers, take the opportunity to fire up your glutes with a quick set of 10 body weight squats. This will activate your quads and hamstrings, boosting blood flow and reducing stiffness from sitting.
Pacing on work calls, following a five-minute pilates video, doing lunges on your way to the restroom—a little something is better than nothing.
Exercise snacking certainly can’t replace traditional workouts entirely. But for anyone intimated by the gym or struggling to find the time to work out, this is a way to make physical activity more accessible and sustainable. The research is clear: these brief bouts of activity can improve your strength, mood, and energy. They're time-efficient, require minimal equipment, and can be performed almost anywhere. Most importantly, exercise snacking challenges the harmful narrative that fitness is all-or-nothing. It recognizes that movement exists on a spectrum, and every bit counts.
Does your gym bag reek? You’re not alone, but it doesn’t have to be this way. With proper care, you can keep your workout gear stink-free. The key is to do yourself a favor and start taking care of everything before it starts to smell. But even if you’ve already let things get bad, I have some tips for you.
I'll get into specifics below, but first, it can help to understand why the gym stink develops on clothing and other items that contact your skin. You sweat into them, but it's not the sweat itself that is the problem. It's the bacteria that feed on your sweat. So you'll need to either get rid of the sweat before the bacteria can grow, or handle your clothes and gear in a way that the bacteria won't be able to grow. (It's the same deal with shaker bottles, except substitute food residue for sweat.) If you take nothing else away from this article, just remember this: for the love of God, rinse everything immediately, or at least air your shit out.
Rinse your gym clothes as soon as you take them off
A lot of gym clothes these days are made of synthetic fabrics because they provide stretch or sweat-wicking features to keep us comfortable. The downside is that bacteria can cling to synthetic fibers in a way that makes them nearly impossible to wash off. So it’s important that we don’t let those germ colonies grow in the first place.
The bacteria I’m talking about are the ones that digest your sweat and skin oils. I know, gross. But that means it’s not the sweat itself that causes stinking, but rather the bacteria that multiply while your sweaty shirt is sitting in the laundry basket.
Nip this problem in the bud by rinsing the sweat out of synthetics as soon as you take them off. I do this in the shower, squeezing out each garment and hanging it to dry. A set of extra shower curtain hooks will give you a place to hang them. I put up a basic tension rod in the back of my shower for exactly this reason. If you shower at the gym, squeeze those garments out and roll them up in your towel until you get home.
If you can't rinse your gym clothes right after wearing, or if you have a whole workday in between your shower and your access to laundry, air your clothes out. Cotton clothes don’t have these problems, by the way. If you wear cotton socks or t-shirts, they can be chucked into the laundry whenever and however you like.
What to do if your clothes already smell bad
You may never be able to completely remove the stink, but you’ll have the best luck with detergents that contain enzymes or that bill themselves as being good for “sport” or “performance” fabrics. I’ve had good experiences with both Hex (a detergent) and Lysol laundry sanitizer (which you add to the rinse, like a fabric softener). I use one or the other, not both. Either of these can also be used for a soak: soak your gross clothes in a bucket with the Hex or Lysol laundry sanitizer, and then wash as usual.
And for a finishing touch, if you really want to be sure you've gotten the stink out, hang the clothes outdoors (or lay them on a surface, like your deck) on a sunny day. Fresh air helps, and sunlight really does kill some of those stench-producing bacteria.
What to avoid
Look, you can try baking soda or vinegar (not together), but I haven't found those to help. If you want a chemical answer to your problems, just get a bottle of Hex.
Air out shoes, knee sleeves, and other items that can’t be easily washed
What about things that can’t be quickly rinsed and dried, like your shoes and the gym bag itself? Or, worse, your neoprene knee sleeves? These items stink up most easily when they stay damp and warm. If you wanted to make a gym bag smell as much as possible, I would tell you to fill it with sweaty gear, lock it in the trunk of your car, forget about it until the next gym day. So if that’s your habit already, stop it. You need to air those suckers out.
If your bag has a mesh compartment for sweaty gear, make use of it. And if you can tie objects to the outsides of the bag—hanging your shoes by their laces, for example—that will help, too. But ultimately what you really want to do is open up the bag as soon as you get home. I always make sure that if my knee sleeves are deep inside the bag, I bring them up to the top to make sure they can get some air. And my shoes are in a mesh compartment, but if I have an extra minute, I’ll open up that compartment and loosen up the shoes so they get as much air flow as possible.
What to do if it’s already gotten bad
Most of the things in your gym bag can be washed, but check manufacturer’s instructions for the best methods. For example, SBD says to hand wash knee sleeves with soap or a wetsuit detergent, but not to put them in the washing machine or dry them with heat.
Just as with clothes, another good option is to hang or lay out your items in the sunshine and fresh air for a few hours. Sunlight will kill some bacteria, and a good airing-out never hurts.
What to avoid
Avoid spraying things down with vinegar (I’ve never found this to be effective), rubbing alcohol (degrades some materials, so check with the manufacturer), or vodka (unnecessarily expensive, just buy rubbing alcohol and then see above about why you might not want to use rubbing alcohol).
Rinse your shaker cup as soon as you finish your shake
Finally, we come to the bane of many a gym bro’s existence, the stinky shaker cup. If you leave residue from your protein shake in there—especially a milk-based one, like a shake made with whey powder—it can go rancid, and the smells can seep into the plastic where they may never really go away.
To prevent this, rinse your shaker cup immediately after you drink the shake. Don’t tell yourself you’ll do it when you get home, because we all know you won’t, and honestly, that's too late anyway. You don’t have to fully wash the cup at this point, just rinse it out in the bathroom sink. Or do what I do, and chug your shake at home, over the sink, and wash the cup while it’s still in your hand.
What to do if it’s already gotten bad
Your Hail Mary hope is to wash it really well. Use soap and hot water. Soak it for a bit if you like. Scrub all the little nooks and crannies (like where the spout meets its cap) to make sure no residue is left. Air it out to dry for a few days; you can even try the sunlight trick above. But if that doesn’t work, buy a new shaker cup, and treat this one right.
When Google acquired Fitbit in 2021, it announced that all users would eventually need to link their devices to a Google account to continue using Fitbit's features and services. Google initially set a deadline sometime in 2025 for the mandatory migration, then pushed it to February 2, 2026—a date that seemed final at the time. Now, Google has granted yet another extension.
Now, if you're still using a legacy Fitbit account (an account from before 2021), Google has extended the deadline for migrating Fitbit accounts to Google accounts for the second time, giving users until May 19, 2026, to make the switch.
How to switch over to a Google account
For those who've been procrastinating, the migration process itself is straightforward and should only take a few minutes. Google provides step-by-step instructions on the Fitbit support page that walk users through linking their existing Fitbit data to a Google account.
To move your Fitbit account to a Google Account:
Open the Fitbit app.
Sign in to your Fitbit account.
Tap Settings and select Move account.
Follow the on-screen instructions.
During the migration, you can review and make changes to your Fitbit data and setup. After that, you can then manage your Fitbit data from your Google Account settings and the Fitbit app. And if you change your mind, you can cancel until the final step. Again, you have until May 19, 2026, to complete the transition.
It's worth noting that anyone who created a new Fitbit account or purchased a device in roughly the last two years is already using the Google-based system. The migration requirement only affects users with older, pre-acquisition accounts.
For users who refuse to migrate, there's still an option to preserve or erase your data. Google has set July 15, 2026, as the final date to download or delete your Fitbit account and all associated health information. And if you're choosing to leave the platform entirely, keep in mind that deleting your data is the safest choice for privacy and security reasons.
There also seems to be general migration issues, like for young Fitbit users. Some parents have reported that Supervised Google accounts—designed for children and teenagers—cannot log into the Fitbit app, creating a roadblock for families who purchased devices for their kids.
Despite the extensions and the complaints, the direction is clear: Google is moving forward with integrating Fitbit into its ecosystem. Whether you embrace the change or walk away from your tracker, the clock is ticking on making that decision.
Your first day in the gym can be pretty intimidating. I remember spending a whole semester in one half of my university’s gym because the other room was, I don’t know, scary. And if you haven’t been to the gym in a while—or ever—you probably have questions. So let’s talk through the very, very basics.
What is a gym even like inside?
Hey, great question! There are different kinds of gyms, so there isn’t a single, universal answer. I’ll assume you’re going to what’s sometimes called a “commercial” gym, one that caters to a wide variety of people and has a selection of cardio machines, weight-training machines, and dumbbells. It may or may not have barbells. Planet Fitness, Crunch, LA Fitness, Gold’s Gym, and 24 Hour Fitness are all in this general category. If your gym is in a community center or a YMCA, it may have a few more or less features, but will probably be similar to what I describe.
Before you head in, check the gym’s website. Most will offer a free first day or week, which will let you scope the place out and do a workout or two before you commit to a membership. Some gyms may make it difficult to cancel after you sign up, so don't rush into it. Take advantage of those trial periods.
While you're doing your research, check out the website for virtual tours and photos of facilities. Get an idea of what kind of stuff they have. Check Google Maps for photos; you may even be able to find a Street View-style tour of the interior. And finally, log on to Instagram and browse through photos tagged at that gym's location. You’ll get a sense of what equipment is there, how people train, and what kind of vibe to expect.
What do I bring?
You can come to a gym with nothing and still get in a good workout. The only absolute requirement, in some gyms, is that you bring a pair of shoes that aren’t filthy. (Some gyms disallow street shoes, and expect you to change into a clean pair; others don’t care, or only enforce the policy in winter.)
On the other end of the spectrum, people will often bring a complete change of clothes and a bunch of toiletries and supplies to take a shower and change afterward. You don’t have to do this. It’s OK to walk out the front door still sweaty, and shower at home. Some small gyms don’t even have showers.
What’s the middle ground? I would bring these for my first time at a new gym:
A water bottle
A small towel (for sweat), unless I know for sure that the gym provides towels
Headphones
A clean(ish) pair of shoes
A bag to carry everything in
A combination lock if you plan to lock your things up and aren’t sure whether the gym’s lockers have built-in locks
What do I do with my stuff while I’m there?
If you have a bunch of stuff, like a coat and a bag, you can put it in a locker. It’s also totally fine to keep a few things with you as you walk around. Most people will probably have their towel, water bottle, and phone with them.
You can usually bring a small bag around the gym with you, and just set it down next to whatever machine or bench you’re using, as long as it’s not directly in anybody’s way. (Check the gym rules, though.) Since that can be a hassle, another popular approach is to keep your water bottle in a sleeve that has pockets for your phone and small items.
What do I wear?
Anything that feels comfortable, isn’t indecent, and that you don’t mind sweating in. For your upper body, try a T-shirt or tank top. For your legs, wear shorts, sweatpants, or leggings. Again, check the gym rules to see if they have any specific requirements. Some gyms don’t want you to take your shirt off, others don’t care.
For shoes, any kind of sneakers or comfortable athletic shoes should be fine. Chucks, running shoes, that sort of thing. If you get really into this exercise business, you can get picky about shoes later. For your first day, it doesn’t really matter.
So do you just, like, walk in?
There will be some kind of check-in desk. If it’s your first time, you’ll probably need to talk to somebody about a membership trial or buy a day pass. This can be a separate visit from your first actual workout. Make sure to ask what the normal check-in procedure is. In many cases you’ll scan your phone or show a key tag or card as you enter, and then you’re free to do whatever you want.
How do I know what they have and where it is?
Two options here: you can walk around the room and scope everything out; or you can ask if someone can give you a brief tour or new-member orientation. (They may offer before you ask). Be aware that they may try to upsell you on personal training or other extras in the process; it's OK to decline.
If you do get a guided tour, use this opportunity to ask any remaining questions you have. Don’t be embarrassed, the whole idea is that they know you’re new and they’re trying to help. And if you don't get a tour, it's still OK to ask basic questions at the front desk like "which way to the locker room?" or "do you have squat racks?"
What if this whole idea makes me nervous?
Look, the first day is about expanding your comfort zone. If you can walk into the gym and not run right back out, you’ve already accomplished something, and Day Two will be so much easier. A few things that tend to help:
Go at one of the less busy times if that will help your nerves. Mid-morning, mid-afternoon, and late evenings tend to be slow times. Check Google Maps to see if it can show you peak hours at your particular location.
Bring a friend, or meet a friend there if you can. Even if both of you are new and clueless, you can be new and clueless together.
Read up on what to expect. You’re already doing that, so you’re on the right track! If there’s a certain exercise or machine you want to try, look it up on YouTube.
If your gym offers classes, that can be a good way to start. The class will get you in the gym with a clear plan of where to go and what to do. You can save independent workouts for after the class or for another day.
If you’ll be on your own, try this:
Walk around the whole gym. Scope everything out. Nobody will stop you or judge you. You don’t even have to pretend that you know where you’re going; if anybody asks “can I help you?” you can just reply “Oh, I’m just new here and seeing where everything is.”
Sit on an exercise bike (or the machine of your choice). Ideally, pick one that faces the main gym area so you can gather more information about what equipment is out there and what people do with it. Use that machine while you decide on your next steps.
Maybe this is enough. A typical cardio workout is 20 to 30 minutes, so you can just use the bike for a half hour and then go home.
Or maybe you find your confidence building as you pedal. After five or 10 minutes (a typical warmup time), hop off the bike and go check out the dumbbells or machines or whatever has piqued your interest.
Take the free personal training session if you want, but beware the upsell
Most gyms sell personal training for an extra fee. And as an enticement to get people to sign up, they may offer a free session or a fitness test with one of their trainers. Like the tour, this is also a good time to get some questions answered.
You can do this if you like, but proceed with caution. Some gyms and trainers are great, but others will use this opportunity to make you do a lot of hard exercise so that you feel out of shape, and then you’ll feel like you need their services to get into shape. I’ve heard too many stories of people having one of these sessions and then feeling terrible about themselves afterward.
So if you decide to go ahead with a session, keep your wits about you. You do not have to be fit your first day in the gym. You also don’t have to do a really demanding workout your first day. If the trainer has you do anything you’re uncomfortable with, you don’t even have to know why you feel the way you do about it. You can just say “you know what, I don’t think I’m ready to do that right now” and ask to move on. This is also a good test of your trainer. If they try to force you to do something you’re not cool with, you probably won’t have a good time working with them.
And, of course, never sign up for anything you aren't sure you want. If they say you'll get a better deal if you join right now, that's a hint that they only get people to sign up when pressured, which means it's probably not a good deal at all. If you do sign up for a package of sessions, read the fine print to make sure that whatever they tell you about cancellations is actually written there in the contract. (Overwhelmed? Better to just say no for now. You can always sign up later.)
Can you give me a routine for my first day?
Sure can! Although what makes something a routine is that you do it routinely. So I’ll give you an option for your first day’s workout, and you can even repeat it a few times, but eventually you’ll want to find yourself a program that lays out longer-term plans.
Try this, which should give you a full-body workout in a reasonable length of time. If one machine or station is busy, just skip to the next while you wait.
I’m recommending two sets of each exercise because that should give you a nice sampling without making you too sore the next day if this is all brand new. I’m recommending 10 reps in each set because 10 is an easy number to remember. Feel free to do more or less if you like.
5-10 minutes on an exercise bike (or any cardio machine)
2x10 (that means two sets of 10 reps each) dumbbell or machine shoulder press
2x10 goblet squats with a dumbbell or kettlebell (if you’re feeling brave, give the leg press a try instead)
5-10 minutes stretching anything that feels tight (look for a stretching area with mats on the floor)
If you want an even shorter workout, split it in half. Do the shoulder press, pull-up or pulldown, and the lunges, and then skip right to stretching. Next time, go right to the dumbbell bench after you warm up, and continue the workout from there.
You don’t have to memorize everything ahead of time. Machines almost always have instructions posted on them telling you how to adjust them and how to use them. Also, it is totally fine to look up videos of exercises on your phone, or to keep notes in your phone or on paper about what you did. It is always OK to be that guy with the notebook.
What do I need to know about gym etiquette?
If there are wipes and spray bottles around, wipe down anything you sweated on. This includes benches and the seats and handles of machines. Don’t forget to throw the wipe away afterward. You can also put your towel down on a bench or machine as a sweat barrier.
Whatever you use, put it back when you’re done.
It’s OK to rest a minute, or even a few minutes between sets. (For example, you just did 10 reps of bench press, and now you’re sitting on the bench for a few minutes before you do your next 10 reps.) But don’t take up space any longer than you need to.
If somebody is using a thing you’d like to use, it’s OK to ask them “how many sets do you have left?” and if the answer is a lot, you can ask “Do you mind if I work in?” which means that you’ll take turns using the equipment. If somebody asks these questions of you, be honest about how many sets you have left (it’s OK to make them wait) and offer to let them work in if you feel comfortable doing so.
If somebody offers you advice and you don’t know how to react, just say “OK.” If the advice is about following a gym rule, follow the rule. If it’s about how to properly use equipment, like adjusting a safety setting, take their advice. On the other hand, if it’s about the proper way to do an exercise, it’s 100% up to you whether you want to give their way a try or just go back to what you were doing. (I have a guide to responding to unsolicited advice.)
What about the second day?
It’s going to be so much easier the second day. You’ll know what’s available, where to find it, and what the routine is for checking in and finding a place for your stuff.
Come in with a plan. It can be the same as your first day, or something new you’d like to try. If you did a full-body strength workout, the next day can be just plain cardio. And if you still feel nervous, don’t worry, it will get easier every day.
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Garmin smartwatches have been gaining popularity in recent years for health-conscious and sports enthusiasts alike. Their Garmin Venu 3S, which was released in late 2023, is one of their premium watches that works great for beginners and more advanced athletes thanks to their user-friendly fitness tracking. You can get the 41mm Venu 3S for $349.99 (originally $449.99), the lowest price it has been, according to price-tracking tools.
The Venus 3S offers Android and Apple users a long battery life of up to 10 days (depending on your use and settings), 8GB of storage, a built-in GPS to track your activity, and a 1.2-inch AMOLED touchscreen. This 41mm size is perfect for people with smaller-sized wrists.
The Venus 3S is user-friendly, with three buttons and a touchscreen to navigate its features and avoid accidentally stopping your workout. The smartwatch has a speaker and microphone so you can take your calls directly from your watch. You can also use it to listen to its guided meditation feature or your playlists from Spotify and Amazon music; just keep in mind there is no LTE support, so you'll need to be within Bluetooth or wifi range of your phone to use these features.
If you're looking for a smartwatch to do trail runs, this smartwatch is not it, since there's no trail-run feature. However, you can get stats on your recovery time after workouts as well as the benefits of your training, a morning report of your health status, heart rate monitoring, stress tracking, on-screen workouts you can follow along, their Body Battery Energy Monitoring that shows you how much or little energy you might have, as well as a Sleep Coach feature that helps you improve your sleep.
Big news for runners with an Apple Watch: You can now follow Strava routes directly from your wrist. Route navigation on Strava-compatible watches isn't exactly new technology—it's just been inexplicably absent from Apple's platform until now. In a Reddit post from Strava's product team, the news was welcomed by runners, cyclists, and hikers who've long wondered why their Apple Watch couldn't do what Garmin and Coros devices have offered for years.
What's new with Strava's Apple Watch app
The core update here is users can now view maps directly on their Apple Watch during activities, seeing both where they're headed and how to backtrack if they take a wrong turn. For subscribers, saved Routes work hands-free and function offline, eliminating the need to pull out your phone mid-run or mid-ride to check directions.
To access routes directly on your watch, press the Route icon while selecting the Sport Type that you’ll record. Once you’ve selected the saved route you want to follow, the activity will start recording.
To then access the map while in the middle of recording your activity, simply swipe up on your watch face. Once on the map screen, you will be able to follow your live location and, if added, your saved route. To zoom or pan the map, tap the watch face to unlock interactive mode. If you want to turn back to your Stat screen, tap the back icon or use the watch scroll button.
Alongside route navigation, Strava added two more training features:
Custom Laps let you mark intervals with a single tap, useful for tempo runs, hill repeats, or comparing efforts against your previous performances.
Live Segments provide real-time feedback when you hit a tracked segment. Subscribers can see whether they're ahead or behind their personal record as it happens, while all users get live progress updates.
As always, you can also turn to route suggestions that draw from Strava's massive activity database full of actual paths that real users have tested and preferred.
The bottom line
For Apple Watch users who've grown accustomed to working around Strava's limitations, this update rocks. Less phone checking means more attention on the road, trail, or effort itself.
Maybe it's taken longer than it should have, but Apple Watch users are finally caught up. Whether that's enough to satisfy those who've already migrated to other platforms remains to be seen, but for the loyal holdouts, it's about time.
If you've been scrolling through your fitness algorithm lately, you might see content creators in their "soft cardio" era. This trend sounds a lot like last year's "cozy cardio," although the way I see it used is slightly different. Where "cozy" cardio is a little more about tricking yourself into working out by establishing a comfortable, maybe even luxurious ambience, "soft" cardio has a greater emphasis on the "low effort" of it all. Whatever the wording, this type of workout is simply the latest iteration of bigger trend toward low-effort cardio, promising all the benefits of exercise without the sweat, strain, or stress. But here's the thing: While soft cardio might be great for getting you off the couch, it's not quite delivering what traditional cardio does.
Let's be clear: I'm not here to bash soft cardio. Movement is movement, and anything that gets people more active is a win in my book. But if you're hoping to reap the cardiovascular benefits that come with actual cardio exercise, we need to have an honest conversation about what soft cardio can—and can't—do for your body.
What is soft cardio?
Soft cardio is essentially low-intensity exercise performed at a relaxed, comfortable pace. Think leisurely walks, gentle dancing in your living room, slow cycling, or easy stretching routines. The emphasis is on making movement feel enjoyable and stress-free rather than challenging or demanding. Naturally, this should resonate with people who feel intimidated by traditional exercise, or who are recovering from injury, or who simply want to incorporate more gentle movement into their daily routines. These are all valid reasons to embrace this type of activity. Soft cardio designed to spare your body from repetitive impact and intense exertion, which sounds wonderful—and in many ways, it is.
What makes cardio, well, cardio?
“Cardio” may not have a precise definition, but just looking at the name, it's safe to say it usually refers to the realm of cardiovascular exercise. That means it's supposed to challenge your heart and lungs, elevating your heart rate to a level where your cardiovascular system actually has to work harder than usual. This is what creates the adaptations that improve your heart health, increase your endurance, and boost your overall fitness.
If your soft cardio session doesn't meaningfully elevate your heart rate—if you could easily hold a conversation throughout without any change in breathing at all—then your cardiovascular system isn't being challenged enough to create those training adaptations. You're moving, which is great, but you're not getting the cardiovascular conditioning that comes with true cardio exercise.
Soft cardio versus actual cardio
Here are some examples of soft, cozy, or low-impact cardio:
A 30-minute stroll through the neighborhood at a comfortable pace
Gentle yoga or stretching routines
Slow dancing or swaying to music
Easy cycling on flat terrain where you never feel breathless
Light household chores done at a relaxed pace
All of these movements reduce sedentary time, are gentle on joints, have a low barrier to entry, are sustainable for many people, and would probably improve your mood. Soft cardio has it's place, but it's minimal cardiovascular conditioning, with limited calorie burn, and it won't significantly improve aerobic capacity.
Here are some examples of what it might look like to tip into actual cardio:
Brisk walking where your breathing becomes noticeably heavier
Jogging or running at any pace
Swimming laps with sustained effort
Cycling at a pace that makes conversation difficult
Dance cardio classes with energetic movement
Jump rope, rowing, or elliptical training
These examples could strengthen your cardiovascular system, improve aerobic capacity, increase calorie burn, reduce risk of heart disease, and overall enhance endurance. Of course, this comes with higher impact on joints, more effort and motivation, and can feel intimidating for beginners.
Finding a balance between soft cardio and regular cardio
The good news is that you don't have to choose between soft cardio and real cardio—you can incorporate both into your routine based on your goals and current fitness level. If your primary goal is simply to move more and sit less, soft cardio is perfect. It's infinitely better than remaining sedentary, and for many people, it's a sustainable way to maintain an active lifestyle. The gentle nature of soft cardio also makes it ideal for active recovery days, when you want to move without taxing your body.
However, if you're looking to improve your cardiovascular fitness, increase your endurance, or achieve more significant health benefits, you'll need to include actual cardio workouts that challenge your heart and lungs. This doesn't mean every workout needs to be intense—even moderate-intensity cardio, where you can still talk but your breathing is elevated, provides substantial cardiovascular benefits.
The bottom line
Soft cardio has its place, and I genuinely appreciate that it's helping people embrace movement without feeling overwhelmed or intimidated. It's particularly valuable for keeping your heart slightly elevated without putting stress on your joints or muscles, which is especially important for those recovering from injury or managing chronic conditions. But let's call it what it is: light physical activity or gentle movement, not cardiovascular exercise in the traditional sense. If you want the cardiovascular adaptations that come with cardio—the improved heart health, increased lung capacity, and enhanced endurance—you need to include workouts that challenge your cardiovascular system.
For beginners, use soft cardio as a gateway to building more challenging workouts into your routine. Start with gentle movement to establish the habit of being active, then gradually increase the intensity as your fitness improves. You might begin with soft cardio walks and slowly pick up the pace over time, or add short intervals of brisker walking to your leisurely strolls.
The trend isn't bad. But understanding the difference between moving your body and training your cardiovascular system will help you set realistic expectations and design a fitness routine that actually meets your goals.
Walking is an easy way to get some exercise in your day, and it delivers mental health benefits as well. I’m one of the many people who added daily walks to my routine during the pandemic, and they improved my life so much I don’t intend to stop. But does walking do enough for your body that you can count it as cardio exercise?
The answer is complicated. Walking counts as cardio in some respects: it can burn calories, it gets your heart rate up, and it counts toward the exercise we should all be getting every week. But on the other hand, it’s not going to increase your cardio fitness in the same way as a run or an intense aerobics class would. If you want to improve your endurance, you’ll have to do more than just walk.
How walking’s calorie burn compares to running
Running burns more calories than walking per unit time, but both are similar when you consider distance.
A rule of thumb is that you burn about 100 calories per mile whether you run it or walk it, but in truth calorie burn varies according to the size of your body (you burn more calories if you are larger) and how fast you run or walk. The calories per mile are slightly lower when you walk. This calculator estimates that a 150-pound person will burn 108 calories by walking a mile at 3 miles per hour, or 104 calories by running it at 6 miles per hour. Some calculators give a lower estimate for walking,
The bigger difference is in calories per hour (rather than calories per mile): for the same 150-pound person, walking burns 324 calories per hour, and running burns 627. The faster you go, the higher the calorie burn. So if you’re walking or running to burn calories, running will burn about double the calories in a given time. But if you prefer walking and you have the time to spare, both will do the job.
Walking can’t replace “vigorous” cardio
Each intensity level of exercise offers its own benefits. Walking is what I’d consider very easy cardio, jogging is more of a medium exercise, and high-intensity cardio would be something like sprinting or racing. All of these are good for you, although depending on your goals, you may not need to do all of them.
If you want to be a fast runner, for example, you’ll need plenty of medium cardio (slow running) and some higher intensity stuff (speedwork); if you want to improve your endurance, as measured by metrics like VO2max, you’ll definitely need to put in some work at these intensities.
On the other hand, if you’re just trying to get some movement in your life and you don’t care about getting better at it, lower intensity exercise like walking may be enough.
According to major health organizations (including the CDC, the WHO, and the AHA), we should all be getting at least 150 minutes per week of “moderate” exercise, or 75 minutes of “vigorous” exercise. You can mix and match, with the idea that each minute of vigorous exercise counts double.
So where does walking fall in that recommendation? Walking is moderate, and I have more here on how that's defined. But if you want a rule of thumb to compare it to heart rate, the American Heart Association defines moderate exercise as that in which your heart rate is between 50-70% of your max, and vigorous exercise as between 70-85% of your max. (That does assume you know your true max.) Walking will generally be in the moderate range, so you’ll have to do twice as much of it—counting in minutes—as if you chose to do more vigorous cardio. That matches up with our calorie calculations.
Walking doesn’t have to mean an easy stroll
The distinction between walking and running is a mechanical one: if you always have at least one foot on the ground, you’re walking. If instead your gait has a little hop as you move from foot to foot, you’re running. (Jogging is simply a slow run.)
It’s often easier to keep up a higher intensity (and a higher heart rate) by running than by walking, but that’s not always true. If you’re hiking up a mountain, your heart rate can easily get into the “vigorous” zone. And if you’re an efficient enough runner, you may be able to go for a slow jog while you keep your heart rate down in the “moderate” realm.
As you’re planning your workouts, think about the intensity: Measure your heart rate if you aren’t sure where you fall; you can use a tracker like a Fitbit or an Apple Watch to do this, but you can also just put two fingers on the side of your neck and count the beats of your pulse. If your max is 200 and you count 150 beats per minute, you’re at 75% of your max heart rate.
Maybe walking gets you a higher heart rate than you thought—not impossible if you’re a beginner or if your walks take you over hilly terrain. If you want a tougher cardio workout, you can walk faster, or you can choose a different type of exercise like cycling or dancing that gets your heart rate up higher. But it’s fine to go for an easy walk if that’s all you’re aiming for.
Something you don't see every day: a sports tech company actually giving away premium features for free. Suunto's route-planning tool lets you create and download GPX files without even creating an account. No paywall, no trial period—just open the page and start planning routes. And the tool itself works great.
What you can do with the Suunto Routeplanner
The tool packs in everything you'd expect from a paid service, and then some:
Route creation that uses different map types (outdoor, satellite, even specialized ones for winter and avalanche terrain)
Routing that optimizes for your activity (running, hiking, cycling, mountaineering, roller skating, and more), using actual heat map data from real athletes
Heat map overlays for about a dozen different sports so you can see where people actually go
Elevation profiles with ascent and descent numbers (crucial for not dying on climbs you didn't see coming)
Export routes as GPX files that work with basically any GPS device
Shareable link generation (good for six months) so you can send routes to friends without making them create accounts either
Ability to import and modify existing GPX or FIT files from other platforms
Optional account sync if you own Suunto or Hammerhead gear
You don't even need to be in Suunto's ecosystem to use this. I was able to export a map to my Garmin watch with no problem. If you do have a Suunto or Hammerhead device, you can link your account and routes will sync automatically.
How to use the Suunto Routeplanner
Go to routeplanner.suunto.com. From there, creating a route is pretty straightforward. If you let your browser share your location, it'll center on where you are. If not, just search for wherever you want to start.
The controls on the right side let you switch between map types. The usual suspects are there: outdoor, satellite, light, dark. But then it gets weird in the best ways with a winter map, an avalanche terrain map for backcountry stuff, and, in a show of national pride, a dedicated Finland Terrain map. Respect.
To actually connect points on the map, you have the following options:
Free drawing (no automatic routing)
Any road or path (ideal for activities by foot)
All road types—avoiding hills (ideal for bikes)
All road types (still ideal for bikes)
Paved roads (ideal for road cycling)
After you create your route, you simply download the GPX file and throw it on whatever GPS device you own.
The six-month shareable links are a nice touch too. You can plan a route for a group ride or run, send everyone the link, and they can grab it without jumping through hoops. It's the kind of friction-free sharing that should be standard but somehow isn't.
Why you should try the Suunto Routeplanner
Strava and Komoot have trained users to expect paywalls for route planning. Of course, this could be strategic on Suunto's part, to give away the software in the hopes of selling the hardware. Or maybe it's just goodwill after years of user complaints about Suunto closing their tracking system Movescount. Either way, users win. You get a legitimately useful tool without opening your wallet or handing over your email address.
If you're already paying for route planning elsewhere, try this first. Worst case, you waste five minutes. Best case, you cancel a subscription and pocket the savings. Even if you'e not looking to save money, having another route planning option in your toolkit doesn't hurt.
Whether you're chasing KOMs (aka "King of the Mountain" leaderboard titles), training for your first race, or just trying to out-walk your coworkers in a monthly challenge, Strava is the social network for people who enjoy suffering outdoors. But beyond the basic "record activity, get kudos, repeat" cycle, there's a whole world of features and tricks to enhance your Strava experience.
Use heatmaps to find the best routes anywhere
Strava's global heatmap—controversial as she may be—shows the most popular routes based on millions of activities from users worldwide. The bright orange lines reveal where locals actually run and ride, helping you avoid sketchy areas, find the scenic paths, and discover running routes that wouldn't stand out to you on a standard map.
Once you identify the popular segments from the heatmap, you can use Strava's route builder to create your own custom version, adding or removing sections based on how much time or distance you want to cover. It's like having local knowledge without actually knowing any locals. This combo of heatmap research plus custom route building means you'll never waste a workout on a terrible route again.
Create your own segments, and be strategic
You don't have to wait for someone else to create the perfect segment. If there's a particular hill, sprint section, or loop you want to own, create your own segment after completing it. Head to the Strava website, open your activity, and use the segment creation tool to define your custom stretch. Pro tip: Make it just obscure or specific enough that you'll probably be the only person who regularly rides or runs it. Instant KOM or QOM status, and you get to name it something fun, like "Why Did I Think This Was A Good Idea Road."
Use the Beacon feature and Flybys (when you're feeling social)
Strava's live location sharing, called Beacon, is somewhat buried in the app but incredibly useful for solo adventurers. Before heading out on a long ride or run in unfamiliar territory, you can share your real-time location with up to three safety contacts. They'll receive a link to track your progress without needing a Strava account. It's like having a support crew without actually having to convince anyone to wake up at 5 a.m. and follow you around in a car.
Then there's Flybys, one of Strava's more interesting and slightly creepy features. After recording an activity, you can view an animated playback showing everyone else who was recording a Strava activity in the same area at the same time. Note that you have to opt into this feature in privacy settings. And since this became the default, the feature has been pretty buggy and unreliable. Maybe common consensus lately has been that the idea of strangers seeing when and where you exercise makes people uncomfortable. That's where Strava's privacy zones come in.
Set your privacy zone radius with intention
This feature hides the start and end points of your activities, which is great for keeping your home address private. But here's the hack: Set your privacy zone radius strategically. Make it large enough to obscure your actual home but centered on a nearby landmark or intersection. This way, your activities still show the area you're running or riding in (useful for finding local training partners or groups) without broadcasting your exact address. It's privacy without going full secret agent.
Create GPS art (and post on Reddit)
Strava art involves planning routes that draw pictures, words, or shapes on the map. With a bit of route planning beforehand using the Strava route builder or other mapping tools, you can spell out messages, draw holiday-themed images (running turkeys at Thanksgiving is a tradition for some), or create elaborate designs.
Peruse the "Strava Art" flair in r/Strava for inspiration. People have created everything from marriage proposals to detailed portraits of animals across their cities. It requires some advance mapping work and willingness to take some inefficient turns, but the result is infinitely more shareable than another standard 5K loop. Plus, it's a great way to explore new streets in your neighborhood while having a specific goal beyond just logging miles.
Clean up your feed
Love your friends, but don't need to see all 47 of their treadmill walks per week? You can mute specific athletes without unfollowing them. Their activities won't clog your feed, but you'll still be connected for challenges and can check their profile anytime.
In the same vein, I recommend use the "hide stats" feature for your own mental health. This one's counterintuitive on a platform designed to quantify everything, but sometimes the healthiest thing you can do is hide certain stats from public view. You can selectively hide metrics like pace, heart rate, or power on specific activities. Going for an easy recovery run but don't want to explain why you're going so slow? Even though you're supposed to be going that slow? Just hide the pace and move on. It lets you keep the activity log and route data for your own records while avoiding the weird pressure to perform for an audience that probably isn't paying that much attention anyway.
Leverage your relative effort and matched runs/rides
I love seeing if I'm actually getting faster or just feeling faster because I bought new shoes. For this purpose, use Strava's route-matching feature to compare performances on the same course over time. The app will automatically detect when you've repeated a route, or you can manually compare efforts. It's either highly motivating when you see progress or a humbling reality check when you realize that six months of training has made you exactly 12 seconds faster.
And if you don't want to obsess over pace and distance, Strava's Relative Effort score (for subscribers only) attempts to offer another way to think about things. It accounts for heart rate data, distance, and duration to give you a single number representing how hard a workout was on your body. A hilly 5K might generate the same Relative Effort as a flat 10K, helping you understand true training load better than just looking at miles logged. It's especially useful for preventing the stress "I feel tired but my training looks light."
Screenshot your activities before sharing
Strava's built-in photo features are fine, but if you want to share your stats in a more visually appealing way, I recommend screenshotting the activity page right after you finish. You can then edit the screenshot to highlight specific metrics, add text, or crop it before posting to other social media.
Turn off auto-pause
The auto-pause feature seems helpful, automatically stopping your timer at red lights or when you're catching your breath. But it's also why your "moving time" looks great while your actual elapsed time reveals you spent 40% of your run standing around. For a more honest assessment of your fitness, especially if you're training for a race, turn off auto-pause. You'll get more accurate pacing data and learn to keep moving through transitions. Plus, your average pace might look worse, but at least it's the truth.
Export your data
Let's face it: Strava has changed its privacy policies and features several times over the years. If you've been using the platform for a while, you have years of valuable training data sitting in their servers, and not a lot of confidence in the company that owns it. Use the "Download Your Data" feature in account settings to get a complete archive of all your activities. You'll receive a zip file with GPX files, photos, and other data that you can import into other platforms or just keep as a backup.
The bottom line
The beauty of Strava is that it's simultaneously a serious training tool and a game you can play with yourself and others. These hacks help you use the platform more effectively while avoiding some of the common pitfalls that turn what should be a fun tracking system into a source of stress or comparison anxiety. Now get out there, collect some data, and remember: The person you're really competing against is the you from yesterday. Unless someone just stole your KOM, in which case, go get it back.
I'm something of a treadmill hater. When I do hop on one, it's only during times when it's truly unsafe to run outdoors. I know that the treadmill brings all the same physical benefits as running outside (because no, it is not “cheating” on your workout). However, I mourn all the mental perks of spending time outside. That's why it's necessary for me to use whatever mental tricks I can to transform a monotonous slog into an actually enjoyable workout. The best part? None of these require special equipment or significant time investment—just small, smart adjustments to your routine. Whatever reason you have for running indoors, here's how to make the most of your time on the treadmill.
Set your treadmill's incline to 1%
The treadmill isn't necessarily easier, but it can sure feel easier. There's a pervasive myth that the treadmill “moves your feet” and thus makes running easier, but that’s not true.
However, if you do happen to be running at a pace of 7:30 per mile (8.0 mph) or faster, setting the treadmill’s incline to 0.5% or 1% is recommended to mimic outdoor air resistance. For those of us slower than that, the difference is so small as to be meaningless.
Even though I'm not fast enough for it to be an issue, I like to set my treadmill's incline to 1% because it keeps me engaged mentally. It really is a minor change, and even if it's "unnecessary," I appreciate the small challenge to make things feel less boring.
Use a portable fan when running on a treadmill
In my experience, gym fans are unreliable. Overheating is one of the main reasons people quit treadmill workouts early. Indoor running means no natural breeze, so your temperature rises faster than it would outside.
If you can't find a treadmill with a solid fan nearby (or built-in), use your own portable fan. I like to set it up to hit me at chest level. Trust me, the same effort feels way easier when you're not overheating.
Improve your form when running on a treadmill
Staring at the console could be killing your running form. When you look down at the display, your neck tilts forward, your shoulders round, and your stride shortens.
Instead, pick a spot on the wall ahead of you—roughly the same spot you'd look at when running outside. Check your stats with quick glances rather than sustained staring. A lot of the times, I cover the display with a towel during speed work to avoid the temptation. Your posture will improve dramatically, and you might find running feels more natural.
Keep your hands off the handrails
The purpose of your treadmill run is to mimic natural walking and running strides as best you can. Holding onto the handrail can throw that off. Using the handrails transfers the workload meant for your legs and core into your upper body. If you feel the need to hold onto the handrails, it’s not the end of the world. But if it makes your workout significantly easier, think about what that likely means for the amount of work you’re putting into—and getting out of—your run.
Use music to better pace yourself on the treadmill
I love crafting a playlist that also works as a pacing mechanism. Songs have a tempo measured in beats per minute (BPM), and your running cadence (steps per minute) responds subconsciously to music tempo.
Although there is no single “perfect” cadence, most runners fall around 160-180 steps per minute. Match your playlist to your target pace: slower songs for warm-ups and recovery, 150-160 BPM for easy runs, and 170-180 BPM for tempo work. Spotify even has running playlists organized by BPM. If nothing else, a good playlist will keep you motivated on such a monotonous machine.
Play the "descending intervals" mental game
Running hard intervals when you're already tired is tough. Flip the script with descending intervals: Start with your longest, hardest effort when you're fresh, then gradually decrease the interval length.
For example: Five minutes hard, two minutes easy, then four minutes hard, two minutes easy, working down to one minute hard. Psychologically, this can feel much more manageable because each interval is easier than the last. You're essentially creating momentum that carries you through the workout, rather than dreading increasingly difficult efforts.
Visualize a virtual route while running on the treadmill
Combat treadmill boredom by mentally running a familiar outdoor route. Close your eyes briefly (only if you're comfortable and safe doing so) and visualize running through your neighborhood, a favorite trail, or even a dream destination.
Take this further by matching your treadmill workout to the actual route profile. If there's a hill three miles into your usual run, increase the incline at the corresponding time on your treadmill. You could even use Google Maps street view before your workout to refresh your memory. For me, this mental trick makes time pass faster and maintains the connection between indoor and outdoor running.
Motivate yourself with negative splits
Running negative splits on the treadmill—where your second half is faster than your first—is a classic race-oriented goal. Start your run at a comfortable pace, then increase speed by 0.1-0.2 mph every 5-10 minutes.
This approach works because it forces you to start conservatively, preventing the common mistake of burning out early. It also means you finish strong, and hey, that could help create a positive psychological association with treadmill running. More importantly, if you do have a race on the horizon, this type of workout trains your body to maintain energy for when it matters most.
Practice using the treadmill's emergency stop feature
Most people either ignore the safety clip entirely or fumble with it ineffectively. Practice your emergency stop before you need it. While walking slowly, pull the clip intentionally to see how the treadmill responds. Knowing exactly what happens when you pull it means you won't panic if you stumble. Hopefully you won't need to use it, but this little practice could prevent a serious injury.
Do a post-workout incline stretch
Here's my recovery hack of the day: After your run, leave the treadmill at a 10-15% incline, turn it off, and use it for calf and Achilles stretches. Stand on the belt with your toes elevated and heels dropped down. The incline creates the perfect angle for a deep, effective stretch.
Hold for 30 seconds on each leg. This takes advantage of equipment you already have and addresses the tight calves that plague many treadmill runners. It's convenient, effective, and helps prevent the dreaded treadmill-induced stiffness.
The bottom line
The treadmill doesn't have to be a "necessary evil." With these hacks, you can make indoor running safer, more effective, and genuinely more enjoyable. And who knows? Maybe one day I'll finally appreciate the unique benefits the treadmill offers: consistent pacing, controlled conditions, and the ability to execute very specific workouts regardless of weather.
Dedicated runners and winter athletes will tell you that exercising in the cold is not as tough as it looks. Personally, I'd rather risk frostbite over any treadmill run that lasts longer than 20 minutes. But is there a point where winter runs cross over from difficult to dangerous?
There is no clear cut-off
Most experts suggest that the danger zone begins around -18°F (-28° Celsius), particularly when factoring in wind chill. At these extreme temperatures, the risk of frostbite increases dramatically, and breathing frigid air can become uncomfortable or even harmful to your lungs and airways.
But beyond the raw temperature, certain conditions should prompt you to choose the treadmill over the trail. Wind chill matters significantly more than the actual temperature—a 20°F day with 25 mph winds feels like -4°F and carries similar risks. Precipitation combined with cold is particularly dangerous, as wet clothing rapidly accelerates heat loss.
Icy conditions create obvious fall risks, and a twisted ankle or other injury becomes far more serious when you're miles from home in subzero temperatures. If the footing is treacherous with ice or you're unable to adequately protect your extremities with the gear you have available, it's wise to skip the outdoor run. Trust your instincts: If the cold feels genuinely painful within the first few minutes rather than just uncomfortable, that's your body sending a clear message.
Again, this threshold isn't absolute. Your personal cold tolerance, experience level, the gear you own, and specific weather conditions all play a role. I know I've managed runs in 10°F, mostly because it was plenty sunny, with no wind, and I was expertly bundled up. Here are some of things to do if you’re a brave soul heading out to run in the freezing cold.
How to avoid cold-related injuries while running
If you do venture out in very cold weather, preparation is everything. Dress in layers using moisture-wicking base layers, insulating middle layers, and windproof outer shells. Protect your extremities carefully with gloves or mittens, a hat or headband, and warm socks. A neck gaiter is a must-have to pull up over your nose and mouth to help warm the air before it reaches the lungs.
Start your run into the wind so you'll have it at your back when you're sweaty and more vulnerable to heat loss on the return trip. Keep your runs shorter and stay close to home or in areas with bailout options. Let someone know your route and expected return time. It also helps to physically modify your route to accommodate layers. Plan a run where you can shed extra layers after the first mile and then pick them up on your way back.
Pay attention to your body throughout the run. Any numbness, excessive pain, confusion, or severe shivering means it's time to get indoors immediately. Remember that you can always cut a run short—there's no shame in prioritizing your safety over a workout.
Another tip, from plenty of personal experience: Be extra aware of mouth-breathing while running in cold, dry air. I recommend running with cough drops in order to help you practice breathing through your nose.
The bottom line
I always tell myself that if something feels off after my first mile, I’m allowed to turn around and walk home. Grant yourself extra leniency in extreme weather conditions. If you really can’t bear missing any miles, consider a hybrid plan of running half of your route outdoors and half on a treadmill.
You can run outside at quite chilly temperatures before you seriously risk frostbite or any other cold-weather consequences. For most runners, the practical limit for safe outdoor running falls somewhere between 0 and -20°F. As long as you’re prepared with protective gear, you can listen to your body to acclimate to cold temperatures as best as you personally can.
When nature dumps a load of snow onto your driveway, it’s a free workout in disguise—but maybe not one you’re really in shape to tackle. If you’re always sore (or, worse, injured) after the first big storm of the season, read these tips on how to make shoveling easier on your body.
Recognize what you’re asking your body to do
Look, just because shoveling is a common chore doesn’t mean it’s one that everyone’s body is automatically ready for. Be honest about whether you’re trained for this. You wouldn’t ask “how can I run a marathon without my legs being sore the next day?” if you haven’t done any running at all in the past year. Jumping into something you’re not ready for is going to suck.
If you know you’ll be shoveling a lot, plan ahead. Deadlifts in the gym will help you build the strength you need in your back, core, and legs, for example. If you’re not up for that, any full body fitness regime will leave you better prepared than doing nothing.
And while we’re mostly talking about sore muscles and aching joints, it’s important to recognize whether your cardiovascular system is up to the task. If you aren’t used to exercising, and if you are older or have a heart condition, you may want to check with your doctor about whether shoveling poses a risk to your heart.
Shovel early and often
If I could give the world only one snow-shoveling hack, it is this: Shovel when there is only a small amount of snow, even if you know there’s more coming. It’s far, far easier on your body to shovel three inches of snow four times over the course of the day, than to tackle 12 inches of snow all at once.
If you missed your opportunity, you can still shovel in layers. Take a slice off the top, then a slice that goes deeper, and so on. Each shovelful will be much lighter and easier to deal with, even though you are taking more shovelfuls in total.
Push instead of lift
We tend to envision shoveling as a repetitive bend-and-lift movement, but don’t forget that you can also use your shovel as a snowplow to push the snow in front of you. You can even buy shovels that are meant to be used this way, so consider an upgrade.
Pushing the snow works best when it’s in a thin layer, so this works well with the advice to shovel when there’s only a small amount on the ground. But even if you have deep snow, pushing can save you some effort. Push until you have a pile, and then slice off the pile in layers.
Keep your back straight
You’ve heard the advice to lift heavy boxes “with your legs, not your back.” What this really means is that your back is best protected from injury when you can keep it straight. If your back rounds as it gets tired, take a break, or find a technique that allows you to keep your back straight even while it’s tired.
For example, it’s most efficient to shovel in a deadlift-like motion: Your back is more or less straight, and you’re hingeing from your hips like a drinky bird. This does require a lot of work from your lower back muscles, so you are technically lifting “with your back,” but it’s safe as long as your back muscles are strong enough to keep your torso straight and stable.
As your back muscles get tired, you may find it easier to keep your back straight if you keep it more upright. This is where a squat motion comes in—the proverbial lifting “with your legs.” Choke up on the shovel so the weight is as close to your body as possible, and bend your knees more so that you don’t have to bend as much from the hips.
Warm up, take breaks, and go easy on yourself
Don’t kid yourself: This is a workout. And as with any workout, the first 10 to 15 minutes will feel the hardest. So keep the work light at first—take smaller shovelfuls, for example. Don’t forget to take breaks, either. You’re not cheating if you stop for a few minutes to let your body rest before getting back into it.
Switching techniques (as above) and positions can help to distribute the strain across your body rather than just hammering the same muscles over and over. Do half your shoveling with the shovel on your right side, and half with the shovel to your left.
I’m sure you’ve seen the studies that come out from time to time showing that diet sodas are arguably kinda-sorta bad for you. (Their evidence is never very strong.) But did you see the new study that found diet soda was better than water for people with type 2 diabetes? Not only is it a real study, it was well-designed and we should be paying attention to it, according to an epidemiologist I talked to who was not involved in the study.
That epidemiologist is Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz of the University of Wollongong, who wrote about it here. When I asked him if it was a good or a bad thing that this study had mostly escaped notice by news media, he said “this is far more robust than most of the science that gets media coverage.” The study was not sponsored by any commercial drink company.
What the study found
In the delightfully named SODAS trial (Study Of Drinks with Artificial Sweeteners), researchers at the University of California, Irvine, and the University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, recruited adults who had type 2 diabetes and who had a habit of drinking artificially sweetened beverages (including, but not limited to, my one true love Diet Coke). The study was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.
Half of them were asked to switch to drinking water instead, and everyone was provided with three servings a day of either their diet drink of choice, or a water of their choice (unsweetened seltzer included). The study ran for 24 weeks. There were 181 people enrolled, of which 179 finished the study, which is considered a fairly large group for a study of this type. (It's twice as large as an older study I'll contrast it with below.)
The main outcome the researchers studied was hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) as measured by a blood test. This is a common test used to monitor glucose control in people who have diabetes or are at risk for it. The higher your HbA1C, the higher your blood glucose has probably been over the past three months or so.
The results: HbA1C got slightly better in the group that was drinking artificial sweeteners: from 7.19% to 7.14%. It got worse in the group that was drinking water, from 7.20% to 7.44%.
The researchers collected a few other metrics, for good measure. Fasting glucose, fasting insulin, and “time in range” as measured by a continuous glucose monitor all favored the diet drinks group. The people in the diet drinks group lost a little bit of weight (on average, two pounds) while those in the water group had stable weights. The researchers referred to this difference in weight loss as “statistically significant, but not clinically significant.” In other words, probably real, but too small to matter.
Bottom line: there was no real benefit to the people in the study switching from diet sodas to water; if anything, doing so may have slightly hurt their health.
What this means for you and your Diet Coke habit
OK, maybe I mean me and my Diet Coke habit. I fully admit to being biased here, but in an educated way. I like my Diet Coke. I’ve also been keeping an eye on research about artificial sweeteners over the years, and while I won’t necessarily defend my soda as health food, nothing has ever convinced me that it’s bad for me. (Sugar-sweetened sodas are a different story; those, we should probably all avoid.)
Now, we have a reasonably large, well-designed, independently-funded study showing that artificially sweetened drinks are possibly better for you than water. I still haven’t seen any news coverage of it, even though a study with the opposite results got coverage a few years back. That study involved 81 women with diabetes in a weight-loss trial, and their HbA1C improved slightly with water compared to diet drinks. Even so, one expert that Everyday Health spoke to about it said that he was “of the opinion that the health risks of diet sodas are overstated.” (Meanwhile, the authors of the most recent study point out that comparing that study to theirs isn’t quite apples-to-apples, since it was a weight loss trial and this one is not.)
That’s an important point to remember about any study on a specific food: they usually apply to a specific medical condition or population. We like to file them away in our mind as “Diet Coke good” or “Diet Coke bad,” but each study only gives us a piece of the puzzle, not a generality. For example this study tells us nothing about Diet Coke’s effects on people who have poorly controlled diabetes, or who don’t have diabetes at all; and it doesn’t say anything about measures other than those related to blood sugar. It didn’t even specifically study Diet Coke, although it’s likely that Diet Coke was one of the more popular beverages participants chose.
To be clear, it is entirely possible that this isn’t a real effect, and and that water and diet drinks are basically equivalent when it comes to your blood glucose and your health. Meyerowitz-Katz says this is probably the most likely explanation, but we can’t rule out the possibility that diet sodas may help glucose control in type 2 diabetes. Maybe they satisfy a sweet tooth and help people avoid other sugary snacks, for example.
The researchers write that their main takeaway is that “maintaining usual [artificially-sweetened beverage] intake may be a tool to continue to help manage T2D if glycemic measures are controlled and stable.” Meyerowitz-Katz agrees: “At worst, there is no difference between diet soft drinks and water when it comes to diabetes control. At best, the diet drinks might be sightly better.”
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Ever since I retired my G-Shock in 2015, I’ve been using fitness smartwatches, and some way or another, they’ve all been Garmins—some were passed down from family members, and others were gifts. If you’ve never owned a Garmin watch and want to try one out, the best budget Garmin for runners is down to its lowest price ever, according to price-tracking tools. You can get the Garmin Forerunner 55 for $149 (originally $199.99).
As Senior Health Editor Beth Skwarecki said in her intensive search for the best fitness watches for runners, the Garmin Forerunner 55 is the best budget choice you can make, especially at this record-low price. You get some features that have historically only been found in the premium versions, like the Respiration Rate Tracker feature, which tracks your breathing rate. The battery life is up to two weeks when it’s in standby mode and 20 hours when using GPS tracking.
You can use the Daily Suggested Workouts to suggest how to train to reach your running goals. If you like to run on tracks, you can choose which lane you’re in with Track Mode, which gives you exact pacing for much better accuracy, snapping your times at 100-meter intervals. Based on those numbers, you can also see the Race Predictor, which tells you how you’d fare in a marathon and other race lengths using your VO2 max and other metrics. There's also Recovery Hours, which suggests how long you should wait until you do another intense workout.
While the Forerunner 55 was released back in 2021, it's still a great budget option in 2026 since Garmin is known for supporting devices with updates for several years. At this price, you can get a great runner companion to keep track of your miles and still make the rent next month.
Personalized fitness advice used to be largely limited to factors like height and weight, but now you might have a Whoop, Oura, or Apple Watch wearable tracking your track heart rate variability, skin temperature, blood oxygen, and so much more. Continuous glucose monitors, once reserved for diabetics, are now worn by biohackers and CrossFit enthusiasts trying to optimize their carb timing.
On the one hand, the appeal of having unprecedented insight into your body's unique needs is understandable. On the other, there's a looming shadow behind all this data: As the metrics multiply, so does the potential for anxiety. When every workout, meal, and bedtime becomes a referendum on dozens of competing data points, decision fatigue is likely to set in. And as your algorithms suggest targeted interventions for every perceived deficiency, someone else—likely a giant corporation getting fat off of user data—is profiting. The question looms larger with each new device metric: Does more data actually lead to better health outcomes?
More data isn't always better
Your wearable spits out a sleep (or stress) report every morning. How is this data serving you? "Metabolic testing, biomechanics, and body composition are all forms of objective data that can be pretty powerful when collected in validated settings and interpreted by professionals who understand physiology and adaptation," says Lekshmi Kumar, a performance physiologist at Boston-based Human Powered Health. But consumer devices, while improving, exist in a different category: "Consistent research has bolstered consumer-facing tools and significant improvements have been made over the past several years. But they're still not considered substitutes for professional-grade assessments," Kumar says. In other words, for a lot of bio-hacking endeavors, there’s a major gap between the numbers you see and their potential real-life applications.
Kumar sees three critical prerequisites for data to actually improve outcomes: data quality, proper context, and accurate interpretation. "Absent these, we often see expensive and excessive supplementation, conflicting recommendations, and decision fatigue," she says. The real danger, she says, isn't the data itself—it's the illusion of expertise it creates.
Hyper-personalized data might add unnecessary confusion
Many direct-to-consumer tests lack the clinical validation of their medical-grade counterparts. Interpretation of the data is frequently automated, missing nuance that a trained professional might catch. And the recommendations often trend toward more—more supplements, more tracking, more intervention—rather than identifying changes that might actually move the needle. It's a hard truth that no wellness product actually cares more about your health than its company's profits.
Perhaps the most insidious cost of hyper-personalization is less financial, and more psychological: When every metric matters, decision-making becomes paralyzing. Should you work out today even though your HRV is down? Is that meal worth the glucose spike? Did last night's 6.5 hours of sleep doom today's training session?
The constant feedback loop can transform exercise from a joyful practice into an optimization problem to be solved. This isn’t the first time I’ve pointed out the trappings of wellness culture. The internal compass—how do I actually feel?—gets drowned out by all the external data streams. Ironically, the tools meant to “empower” can instead create dependency, where you can’t trust their own bodily sensations without technological confirmation.
Does hyper-personalization actually work?
When implemented thoughtfully (with quality data, proper interpretation, and professional guidance), personalized approaches can obviously aid you in optimizing training, recovery, and nutrition in ways generic programs cannot. Elite athletes have long used sophisticated testing—VO2 max assessments, lactate threshold testing, motion capture analysis—to gain advantages, however marginal. As these tools become more accessible, it makes sense their benefits can extend beyond the professional realm.
But accessibility without expertise? That’s a different matter. Consider two hypothetical people concerned about their fitness: Person A tracks sleep quality, HRV, resting heart rate, blood oxygen, skin temperature, glucose levels, and workout strain—but lacks a framework to understand how these metrics interact, or what to do when they conflict. Person B follows a simple evidence-based program: strength training three times per week, 30 minutes of cardio on alternate days, eight hours of sleep, and a balanced diet with adequate protein. Even absent all that data, Person B will likely see better results and experience far less angst about their health.
Again, there are the economic incentives to consider too. Companies profit from selling more tests, more devices, more subscriptions, and more supplements. The business model depends on convincing consumers they need increasingly granular data to achieve their goals. This creates an environment where the answer to "what should I track?" is almost always "more than you're tracking now," regardless of whether the additional data actually serves you.
When personal health tracking actually makes sense
"The biggest gains won't come from chasing every single flashy metric," says Kumar. "They'll come from identifying the variables that matter most to the specific individual, and working with a credentialed professional who can assist in translating the information into meaningful takeaways and actions."
What does smart, targeted tracking look like in practice? Here are scenarios where specific metrics can genuinely help:
For a runner struggling with fatigue: Tracking HRV and resting heart rate can reveal when you're not recovering adequately between training blocks. If these metrics trend downward over weeks, it's a signal to dial back intensity or add rest days—something that matters far more than monitoring glucose fluctuations after breakfast.
For someone with persistent digestive issues: A food diary paired with symptom tracking (not necessarily a microbiome test kit) can help identify genuine patterns. Working with a registered dietitian to systematically eliminate or reintroduce foods provides actionable insights, unlike a $200 test suggesting you eat more fermented foods.
For someone desperate to improve sleep: Use your gadgets to track total sleep time and sleep consistency. That matters more than obsessing over REM percentages. Focus on establishing a regular pre-sleep routine and measuring whether you feel rested, rather than achieving some algorithm's "optimal" sleep score.
For the lifter hitting a plateau: Remember that linear gains are for beginners. Instead of stressing over daily scale readings, focus on your training log tracking progressive overload and consider following these tips.
You'll notice a patter here: Each tracking approach is targeted, time-bound, and directly connected to a specific goal or problem—not a fruitless pursuit to optimize every single thing all the time.
The bottom line
In a culture obsessed with optimization, it’s getting harder and harder to cut through the noise. But maybe your goal shouldn’t be to track everything. As hyper-personalization continues its ascent, think about how you’re engaging with every new tool. The wisest approach may be a picky one: choosing one or two key metrics that align with specific goals. Because more information isn't automatically better, and consumer tools have real limitations, and that the human body is beautifully, frustratingly complex—not exactly reducible to a dashboard of numbers.
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